My Lasts II
by Breaking-Doll
Summary: Sequel of My Lasts. More summary will spoil the story so please read yourself. Additional Genre : HEARTBREAKING, SAD or whatever. But no tragedies. I hope you agree with me on term tragedy.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note : As the title already implies, this story is a sequel to "My Lasts". It is weird if I submit it as a new chapter to "My Lasts", so I decide to make a new story out of it. So if you don't know how the previous story goes, you won't regret to read it first.  
Anyway, this story is not necessarily sad. Heartbreaking, perhaps, but not really sad. I don't know yet, since the end is still blurry for me. I really hope that you will give me feedbacks to this story, so please review and tell me your opinion. Thanks and enjoy.**

* * *

**My Lasts II**

* * *

CLICK

Mireille loaded her Walther, her eyes closed. It had been four days since she began remembering the past again. The bitter past which never really became the past. It never faded.

"_Mireille…"_

"_Mireille…?"_

"_I love you so much, Mireille..."  
_

Kirika's face, Kirika's smiling face, Kirika's shy and fragile profile…

The Walther hit the table a bit harder than Mireille wanted it to.

Kirika's… desperate, crying face…

"_There is no more time left for me, Mireille,"_

Mireille breathed heavily. It had been two years since it happened. Kirika's last journey. Their last meeting with the Soldats. Since then Mireille never heard of Soldats ever again. That's great.

The reason why she suddenly remembered the whole thing again was because of her mission this time. To Japan.

Mireille had never thought that she would eventually come back to this place again. She never intended to return to Japan ever again. Not there.

Japan was the place which reminded her about Kirika's lung cancer the most. It was the place where she saw how the cancer robbed Kirika's health gradually.

Sure, Mireille said to herself as she packed her luggages, Japan was the place where they mostly spent their last moments together without any kind of assasination or mission or attack. It was a nice, peaceful, but too short a time to spend together.

That's why, ten minutes later, Mireille half-heartedly dragged herself out of her apartment.  
She nearly missed her flight, but deep inside her heart she wished she really had missed it. A non professional thought, but… noone could really blame her for acting like this.

* * *

Her next task was to eliminate a whole family discretely. She was supposed to finish the task in count of hours and to return back to Paris immediately so that noone could track her down. It wasn't a difficult task, but her client insisted that it was done as soon as possible.  
Since Mireille didn't want to stay longer in Japan anyway, she agreed to the condition without making any fuss.

Dressed casually as usual the next afternoon, Mireille walked down the street along the neatly ordered houses. It was unnecessary to look around as if she was looking for some address. She already knew where the family exactly lived. After all she had studied the area plan in the hotel the night before.  
Her client had been pretty helpful with the house and family description as well. It wouldn't be a difficult task at all.

Quickly and precisely. No problem.

Then she was thrown back to reality as a girl bumped into her.  
Mireille's eyes grew bigger as she saw the mass of black hair covering the girl's head.

Kirika!

But it wasn't Kirika. It was only a normal Japanese girl. Japanese people commonly had black hairs.  
The girl looked up at her, looking really embarassed.  
"Gomen nasai!" she said, bowingly.

"Uh, oh.." Mireilla didn't know how to respond. She wished she had learned some Japanese from Kirika all the time they lived together.  
But it wasn't really necessary since the girl scurried away afterwards, leaving Mireille gaping at her back.

Now that she truly saw the people around, she realized that she wasn't really used to so many black-haired people around her. The only person with black hair whom she really had interest in was Kirika. In Europe Kirika was surely something like a "rare item". In Japan, she was only one of those girls who were crossing the street laughingly like now.

As they met the first time, Kirika wore a school uniform. Where had this uniform gone, by the way? Slowly Mireille lost track of Kirika's personal belongings. Worse than that, Kirika didn't have so many things she brought with her from Japan.  
_Hmph_, Mireille chuckled ironically. _Shame on you, Mireille Bouquet. And you even told Kirika in front of her grave that you wanted to live together with her again in your heart?_

It didn't take long before Mireille finally reached the house. It was a beautiful, small house which was just a perfect place for three people to live in. Too bad this family would be gone in a few moments…

Mireille rang on the gate. A middle-aged European woman came out of the house, looking surprised to see Mireille.

"Mrs. Sanders?"

* * *

"I am so sorry that you have to come here to deliver these documents. Actually I prefer to get these documents personally from him." said Mr. Sanders, checking on the large envelop Mireille just handed over to him.

"Mr. Chestley really does appreciate you, Mr. Sanders. It is all my pleasure."

Mireille stared at the cups of tea and cakes in front of her. She was trying her best to stall, since she had to eliminate the daughter as well, but it had been two hours now. She couldn't wait anymore. The flight set off in three hours. She grabbed for her Walther inside her jacket.

Mr. Sanders was no longer alive as Mrs. Sanders entered the living room. Mireille spared her the sight of her dead husband by killing her right away. A shot right to her heart. Mrs. Sanders had a surprised look in her eyes. Apparently she never thought that Mireille was up to kill them.

After checking the pulse of Mr. and Mrs. Sanders and making sure that they were no longer alive, Mireille tried her best to arrange a quick plan to finish the daughter before she could see her dead parents and spoil the whole secret plan. It appeared that the daughter also knew her client as well, and that her client was the only person who wanted to kill them.

Mireille didn't have to plan further. A scream coming from behind her revealed the daughter of the house, who apparently came inside from the back door.  
Mireille spun around and pointed the gun at the girl. She was close from pulling the trigger, but the sight of the girl lamed her totally.

There were so many black-haired girls out there… so many black-haired girls who wore uniforms but there was no way she could mistook any of them as Kirika!  
And yet the girl who stood before her right now couldn't resemble Kirika more. The same short cut hair, the same frightened face, the same figure!  
Mireille's gun fell from her shaking hand. She couldn't move her body out of shock. And at that time the girl came to consciousness and screamed loudly.

Mireille rushed forward in horror and knocked the girl down. She fainted, and the situation settled down, but from the noises outside the house Mireille realized that the whole thing was ruined. She should better escape while possible.  
Since she could leave any witness, she should kill the girl here….  
Mireille picked her gun and pointed it at the girl. The girl, who was just alike to Kirika.

"Damn it!" cursed Mireille. She rushed to the front door, put barricades so that people couldn't come in easily, and dragged the girl out of the house through the back door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note : To celebrate the end of my sorrow this semester. Thanks for your support all this time!**

* * *

Mireille sighed, her hand holding a cup of warm coffee.  
It was quite an adventure today.  
Since Mireille didn't complete the task and brought the unconscious girl along with her instead, it wasn't a good idea to escape to Paris using the service her client provided.  
So now there they were, in a nice small inn somewhere in Taiwan.

Mireille really asked herself why the hell she didn't kill the girl and even worse, why she decided on this place anyway. The mission against Shao Li wasn't really a pleasure.

Even if the girl looked so much like Kirika, there was no way she was Kirika. Kirika was gone. Gone! Mireille was there as she died. Mireille held her hand the whole time. She saw how the rest of life left Kirika, she saw her closing her eyes forever, it couldn't be Kirika, no way!  
Mireille took a deep breath. She didn't really say all the things above out loudly, but it costed her some energy even to think about it. That might be an example of the act called "thinking out loud".

For the tenth time that day Mireille looked at the girl to examine her carefully.  
The girl really had the same face like Kirika had, there's no doubt. Except if Mireille's memories about Kirika already faded away, so that she would recognize every cute, slim high school girl with short haircut and no glasses as Kirika.  
If Mireille didn't know better than that, she would arrange someone to open up Kirika's grave to see if Kirika, well, came back to life, in one or other mysterious ways.  
At this point Mireille really realized how much she wished Kirika to come back from the dead. She wanted Kirika to come back and fill the hole she left in Mireille's life as she died.

Other than that, Mireille asked herself if she hurt the girl accidentally as she knocked her out. It was unusual that the girl stayed unconscious for 13 hours now.  
The doctor who came yesterday told her that there's nothing wrong with the girl. There's no blood, no broken bones or anything else. The reason for her unconsciousness might be a deep shock or a traumatic experience. As the doctor questioned her on this topic, Mireille lied and said she didn't know. It was already strange enough that a European girl took care of an Asian girl. A confession that this European girl just murdered the Asian girl's parents, and therefore gave the daughter a traumatic experience would bring her to jail for three days folowed by an execution.

To ensure the doctor that she wasn't kidnapping the girl, she showed her the only photo she ever made with Kirika. In the picture Kirika was smiling – a good sign. A kidnapped girl wouldn't smile that happily. And since the doctor believed her, Mireille stopped thinking that she was hallucinating all the time. The girl really did resemble Kirika. No doubt anymore.

Then the girl moved slightly.

Mireille was so surprised that she jumped off her chair.

Slowly the girl opened her eyes. At first she didn't really remember what happened. She stared at Mireille unknowingly. Slowly, the sight of Mireille holding a gun and her parents lying on the ground with some blood on their clothes passed before her eyes and she screamed again.

Again, Mireille rushed forward and put her hand on the girl mouth.

"Mmmm! Mmm..mmmmmh!" mumbled the girl desperately under tears.

"Be quiet, will you? I am not going to hurt you, but I will have to if you can't be silent!" whispered Mireille in panic.

But the girl continued mumbling and struggling in tears. Mireille couldn't help to think what she would do if the girl really was Kirika.  
Then she embraced the girl tightly. The girl stopped crying out of a sudden, perhaps because she didn't expect to be hugged by her parents' murderer. Whatever the reason was, it was enough to give Mireille some time to go to the door afterwards to clear the curiosity of the inn owner by explaining that her "girlfriend" was having some post-traumatic stress reactions and that she already settled down by now.

Mireille smiled uneasily to the inn owner. After she closed the door her expression changed abruptly. She really didn't know what to do now.  
Slowly she turned around to face the girl. And the girl was gone. She was at the window sill, trying to escape through the window.

"Heyy!" yelled Mireille, fully aware that a "Heyy!" didn't belong to a post-traumatic stress reaction.  
She pulled the girl away from the window sill. Typical Kirika, she thought as she forced the girl to go back to the bed. Traumatic experiences here and there, Kirika could always recover in count of minutes.

"Just stay here and don't do anything will you? If I wanted you to get lost I would leave you on the street and fly back to Paris!" exclaimed Mireille angrily.

The girl yelled back at her, using some unfamiliar words. Japanese. Mireille couldn't speak Japanese. She would have to count on her luck. Perhaps the girl had Kirika's talent in languages.  
"I'm sorry?" asked Mireille in english.  
"You killed my parents!" yelled the girl back in english.

That's great. At least they could communicate.  
But now Mireille really didn't know what to say.  
She killed her parents, after all. She really did.

Mireille walked to the chair and dropped herself on it. She sat face to face with the girl cowering on the bed.

"I did. I killed your parents." stated Mireille.  
"Why? Why did you kill my parents!" yelled the girl again.

Mireille sighed and pulled out some documents out of her luggage. She spreaded the photos and papers on the table.  
"I am a hired assassin. I receive tasks to kill people in exchange for money. As much as I am informed, you also know that somebody wants your parents to die, don't you?"  
"But that doesn't give you the right to kill anyone!"

Mireille stood up so suddenly that the girl bumped to the wall behind her in an attempt to run away from Mireille.

"My job is not to grant people lives. It is to kill people.  
My apologies, but everyone has family and people. If my clients want to kill people who has noone, they won't hire me, is it clear? After all, noone wants to stain their hands with blood!"

Mireille walked to the door and slammed the door behind her as she walked out.

Ten, twenty seconds, and the girl still sat in shock on the bed. She couldn't forgive the blond girl for killing her parents, but all what she said was true.

But the blond girl killed her parents!  
She couldn't forgive herself for ever pitying the blond girl.

It was a person named Henry Chestley. Tears ran down her cheek. It was only two days ago that her parents told her someone might want to kill them, so that she had to be careful.  
Her parents were nice people. She didn't ask further what might drive the Mr. Chestley to go that far, but she was sure whatever it was, her parents didn't do anything wrong. She trusted her parents to death.

And yet, there must be a reason why her parents were killed. The reason was hidden somewhere among the pile of papers and photos on the table.  
The girl's hands and knees shook badly as she forced herself to get off the bed and walked to the table.

She needed to know it…. she really did.

* * *

Mireille couldn't believe she just had a hot word-war with a girl concerning her job.  
To kill people was never a holy act. She never said that as well.  
She had the ability to kill people effectively and therefore she used it to earn her living, but she was never proud of herself. After all, her whole family was killed as well. She would never see killing as a job to be proud of. It didn't help to see it from a religious side as well. Killing was a sin.

Even if she was aware of all that, noone had ever criticized her upon her job. Part of the people who dealed with her gave her tasks and paid her for her job. The other part didn't really have time to state their opinion because they all died too quickly. The rest were her few friends, who didn't talk much about this topic.

Shortly said, this girl was the first person from whom she had to defend herself like that. In a wrong way, but she felt the urge to defend herself. Her job. Her life. Her living.

After Mireille calmed herself she remembered in terror that she left the girl alone in the bedroom, and she might get lost if she managed to run away. And so she went back inside the inn in hurry, ran up the stairs and pushed the door open.

* * *

**Author's note again : Don't you think I am better with the whole details now? I am pretty proud of myself. That means it will be a very very long story. Don't despair. It's on me to think about what to write here, lol.**


	3. Chapter 3

The girl jerked in surprise as she saw Mireille.

Mireille stared at the girl unbelievingly. She was still there. She didn't run away.

Mireille could feel the mass of blood in her head flow back to her whole body. Her knees felt really wobbly.

The girl looked at her, but strangely Mireille had a feeling that her eyes didn't have the hateful expression anymore.  
Mireille's eyes caught the girl's hands holding all the documents. So she did read through the documents after all.

The girl turned away from Mireille and busied herself with the documents again.

Mireille sat on the bed, watching the girl.

The documents contained the information about her parents' past.

Twelve years ago, Henry Chestley's little sister Marianne Chestley and John Sanders were lovers.

From the very first beginning Henry was objected to this relationship. John was a nobody. It was because of Marianne that he could have a decent job and lead a much better life than before. Marianne provided the man with everything he needed. She trusted him with all her heart.

And yet after two years John cheated on Marianne with Allison Drew, the woman who then became his wife. Because of them, Marianne commited suicide.  
Henry swore revenge. He swore to kill both of them including their children, but the Sanders suddenly disappeared and Henry lost track of them.

After ten years finally he found them, therefore he hired Mireille to kill the whole family.

Included in the documents were some old newspaper articles, which reported Marianne's death and the release of John Sanders because he didn't kill Marianne after all. He just left her brokenhearted with no hope to live.

"My father…." whispered the girl after some while.

Mireille folded her hands neatly. She knew very well the shock to find out that one's parents were involved in something one never dreamed of.

The girl put down the documents, and with all her courage she faced Mireille.

"Am I going to die as well?" she asked, trying her best to hide her fear.

Mireille looked at the girl. She never saw Kirika shiver. So Kirika would look like this if she was afraid.  
Mireille took out her Walther and hold it firmly in her hand.

"Actually, yes. My task was to eliminate the whole Sanders family. The question is, if you want to die now."

"No." answered the girl. "But there's nothing I can do if I will die anyway."

Mireille could see desperation in the girl's eyes. She really had lost any hope to survive.

Kirika died in such a young age, Mireille said to herself. She died although she didn't want to.

"_I am so sorry that I have to leave you alone, Mireille."_

"_Sorry because I will die soon."_

Kirika who had to struggle that much to live…….

"_If I could choose, I just want to be right beside you."_

"_No way I am letting you die... No way..."_

This girl's fate was now in her hands. She once swore to Kirika that she wouldn't let her die. She swore to her, she really did.  
But she couldn't do anything to save Kirika.

The girl standing before her now, she had the chance to live on. If Mireille would let her go. And it wouldn't make sense if Mireille simply let her go with the possibility that she might get killed in one, two days. She had better help to the end if she did want to help.

"Hey, you are their adopted daughter, right?" Mireille asked. "My client was not sure when you came to this family but he insisted to kill you as well."  
The girl didn't understand why Mireille changed the topic, but she nodded.

"Where did you come from? Can you remember?"  
The girl looked down and thought strainedly.  
"We never talked about it. The only thing my mum told me was that they adopted me as I was six years old. I can hardly remember the time before that."

Both of them were busy with their own thoughts for a while. Mireille was wondering how she could bring the girl somewhere safe and give her a new life, while the girl was busy trying to remember where she came from. The girl really didn't remember where she came from. She didn't even remember the time she met the Sanders for the first time. It was really unusual. It was simply too odd.

Finally, Mireille broke the silence.

"I will find you somewhere to live. Until then, you should better stay with me. If you don't want to die yet.  
Even if I let you off hook now, my client will be able to hunt you down and kill you within days anyway.  
What do you think about it?"

The girl's eyes widened. She didn't expect Mireille to take care of her. Mireille was her parent's murderer! A wave of anger built itself in her heart.  
"I don't need your help! You are a murderer!" yelled the girl. Her tears sprang to her eyes as she stared at Mireille hatefully.  
"It was an offer," said Mireille, who felt hurt as if she was rejected by Kirika personally. "It is up to you what to do."

The girl kept her lips pressed tightly. It was shameful to depend on a person whom she hated. But she really had no choice. Die or survive. If she refused, she would die. If she agreed, there might be some chance to survive.  
But why did this woman offer such things? After all, she didn't get any profit from this.  
Then the girl asked coldly, "Aren't you afraid that I might attack you while you are not on guard?"

Mireille grinned satisfiedly. "I'll take that risk."

This moment was the time when their paths crossed each other. Mireille Bouquet, a hired assassin, and a normal girl whose parents she just killed. Both of them are lonesome souls, and the way ahead was so unpredictable. Mireille knew that very well, but she needed to do this. If she didn't, she would regret it her whole life……..


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note : My my isn't it a busy week? Lol. Dan asked the name of our Kirika-like girl in her last review. You will find it out this chapter. I have spent a lot of time searching for a cute, and yet not overly sweet name. Hope you like it. There is a certain part in this chapter which I previously wanted to make an additional chapter because it is so sweet. Otherwise I can't wait for the fifth chapter...**

* * *

Mireille felt as if she had picked a stray cat off the street.

The girl sticked to her all the way back to Paris, but as soon as they arrived at Mireille's apartment she quickly took a distance from Mireille. Mireille realized that she must have been very patient not to run away from her all the time.

"At least tell me how I shall address you," said Mireille to the girl cowering on the floor.  
"Or is it better of you if I call you 'hey' all the time?"

The girl scowled and mumbled something unclear.

"Pardon me?" Mireille bent forward slightly to catch more of her words. That didn't really help because they were 3 meters apart anyway, but it was worth the effort.  
"Yui." she repeated. "My name is Yui."  
Mireille sighed relieved. One problem finished. "My name is Mireille. Mireille Bouquet."  
Yui said nothing. It looked like it wasn't important for her to know the name of her parents' murderer. A good character every victim should possess.

"Is it your real name?" Mireille asked again, while taking a seat before her laptop and opening a search site.  
"What's with it?" Yui made absolutely no attempt to hide her suspicion.  
"If I am to find out more about you, I guess I should better start with a name, don't you think? Or do you think that "an unknown Japanese girl" will lead me to some exact information in internet?"

Yui scowled again. Mireille smiled the smile of the winner. There's a certain pleasure in teasing the girl. But Mireille told herself that she should better not forget that this girl wasn't pleased at all.

"It is a real name," Yui murmured peevedly. "At least that's the name my parents gave me upon adoption. I didn't know my true name."  
Mireille didn't answer. More or less Yui said the truth. There's not many information she could find about the Sanders. The whole family really knew how to hide themselves.  
The blond assassin took a deep breath. Since this girl was adopted, it was wise to start researching the adoption centers. In Japan.  
Mireille wondered why the hell they didn't just stay in Japan for some time. Then she remembered that she was to escape as soon as possible anyway.  
Yet there was something really mysterious. Why did the Sanders adopt a child? It was normal to adopt a child if they couldn't have any children, but they were hiding from Henry Chestley. Man would think that it was better to minimize the number of the group. But the Sanders did adopt the girl. And strangely enough, there's no information about where the girl came from or anything else. Henry Chestley himself told Mireille that he didn't know when the girl appeared. So where could they start searching?

_Tea. I need a cup of tea._

Mireille stood up and Yui jerked for fear.  
Mireille turned at her.  
"You know, acting like this isn't good for your heart. I already told you that I won't kill you. You can relax a bit, you know?" advised Mireille.  
Yui scowled at her again and Mireille gave up. She was thankful Kirika had never been like this.

"Where are you going?" Yui demanded to know as Mireille disappeared behind the kitchen wall.  
"I am making myself some tea. Do you want some?" came the answer from the kitchen.

Yui slowly stood up and walked like a scared cat toward the kitchen. She spotted Mireille pouring hot water in a cup. Although she was an assassin, she did lead a normal life like every human being in this world. She also drank tea.  
"Get yourself a cup from the upper cupboard," Mireille said without looking at her.  
Yui opened the upper cupboard and saw quite a collection of tea cups. And they were mostly alike. Up to a cup, which had a small crack on the handle. It was somehow impressive. So she took it  
"Found your cup?" Mireille turned to her, and her expression changed after she saw the cup.

"Don't touch it!"

Yui was so frightened that she let go of the cup abruptly. Mireille caught the cup in time before it reached the floor, and held it close to her heart.

"_I made a crack on the handle,"  
Kirika said to her one day, as she was working on her laptop. The japanese girl looked really sad. _

"What handle?" she asked.  
Kirika showed her the cup handle.

"No problem. Just get yourself a new cup."

"But I am the one who broke the handle," Kirika said slowly. "I don't want to replace this cup with another only because the handle is broken."

_"You want to use it furthermore? she asked unbelievingly.  
Kirika nodded. "I will use only this cup from now on." _

She shrugged. "Whatever, just be careful okay?"  
Kirika smiled brightly out of relief.

"Don't use this cup… take another one."  
Mireille walked out to the living room with the cup.  
Yui took another cup without any crack and Mireille came back to the kitchen—without any cup in her hand.

Mireille poured tea into the cup and handed it to her. She took it and drank it, still puzzling about Mireille's strange behaviour.

"We have to talk about the whole thing,"  
Yui looked up from her tea.  
"It appeared to be quite difficult to find out who you are in short time. So, I guess we will have to stay together for some time. Bear with it," Mireille added.  
Yui nodded ungleefully.  
"And I supposed you are a normal high school girl who has no experience with guns and so on, am I right?"

"No normal high school girl can do that," Yui answered.  
_Oh, there is. You won't believe it_, Mireille said to herself, raising an eyebrow.

"This way, you will be a burden to me. Let me tell you one thing : I am not going to protect you all the way. You have to learn to protect yourself. You don't need to help me with my jobs but at least try to survive. I will teach you how."  
Yui gulped. She really had forgotten about her host's job : professional assassin. Of course she wouldn't stay at home all the time and cook meals. She was not a household wife.

"Okay, but I won't kill!" Yui countered with pure determination. "I won't end like you!" she added sharply.  
"We'll see."

* * *

Mireille didn't know what drove Yui to practice that diligently.  
Of course, as the tutor Mireille was glad that her trainee improved her ability from zero to one thousand, but she wasn't sure if that only had its good side.  
Mireille herself never made it that way. Her uncle Claude spent a lot of time teaching her how to use guns properly. She never really showed any interest for shooting either.  
Perhaps this girl was a born talent, Mireille said to herself.

BANG BANG BANG

"H… how was I?" Yui panted heavily.  
Mireille woke up from her daydreams and looked ahead to the holes on the wall. They were mostly inside the circle Mireille drew as target before.  
"Very well," Mireille praised Yui. For a split of a second she was pretty sure to see a soft smile on Yui's face, which was abruptly replaced with a sour expression. Mireille couldn't blame her. It was three months already since they lived together but the wound in Yui's heart hadn't recovered.

Now that Mireille was certain that Yui could protect herself, she decided to accept some of the job offers. She was determined to find some easy stuffs to begin with but it looked like there was no easy stuff in this kind of job. Kill or be killed. That's the main principle.

"We will start tomorrow," Mireille told Yui one evening. "The target is a business woman."  
"Why does someone want to kill her?" queried Yui.  
Mireille rolled with her eyes. "You don't ask your client why he wants to kill someone. But I know it anyway. So listen, the business woman owned a big company which was a rival to another company owned by our client. It is dirty, but it is almost normal in this world to eliminate rivals ruthlessly."  
"But that is cruel," Yui voiced her opinion. "Your client should improve himself and not kill the ones better than him."  
Mireille smiled. "Whatever, that's his problem. Just be ready for tomorrow. Remember, don't get killed okay?"

Yui looked at Mireille's back with a sad expression on her face. She had trained a lot to face tomorrow but she couldn't help feeling sad and afraid. After all she was just a normal high school girl. Until about three and a half months ago. Why did she have to be involved in this matter?

That night, Yui cried in her sleep. Mireille didn't say anything to her. She didn't sleep either, but she also didn't make any movement to comfort the girl lying back to back beside her. It was important to cry if you need to. It would give you the strength you need to face your biggest phantom. That's what Mirelle had learned all the time in her life.  
With the last thought in her head and Yui's damped sob, Mireille fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note : Huch, I nearly forget to update! Anyway, now I have to work on the sixth chapter. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the sixth chapter is hanging in the air.**

* * *

Yui remembered the time as she had to make a speech for the first time in front of her class. She was trembling pretty badly back then. She could hardly hold the papers straightly and her voice seemed to be disappearing whenever she had to say something.

As Yui woke up the day she was supposed to fight for life and death the first time in her life, she hardly felt her arms and legs. Her body felt numb and she needed to throw up. She still remembered the scent of blood filling the living room as she entered it, only to see her parents lying on the floor and a blond woman standing next to their bodies, holding a gun. This image didn't fade at all, not even if she closed her eyes. Yui wasafraid to die the same way her parents did.

It was Yui's deep hatred for Mireille which drove her to get up from the bed as the latter came to see after her. There was no way she would show her weak side to a mean killer like Mireille. Yui would definitely show Mireille what kind of girl she was.

Only a half of this determination was left two hours later as she and Mireille stood before the skyscraper of a company.  
"H..here..?"  
Mireille turned at Yui. She had a bad premonition about the way this day ended. "Come."

Yui didn't know at all where they were going as soon as they entered the building. All she saw was Mireille's walking feet.

TAP TAP TAP

_How can this woman be so calm?_

TAP TAP TAP

_After all, she can also get killed in this matter. Why, why actually did she choose this occupation? It isn't a dream occupation after all..  
I know she is used to such things but how come she can ever be used to killing people? No way, there is no way I will follow her track. I'd rather die than killing anyone…_

The next second Mireille pushed her behind a wall and all Yui could hear was the sound of bullets shot here and there. Yui shivered.

_What happened?  
Why does it begin now? Actually they are supposed to do this job discretely, and there is no talk about a guerrilla war._

"Get up! Run!"  
Mireille dragged Yui up coarsely. The latter stumbled through the corridor, not knowing what she had to do. More than three times her hands accidentally touched the gun in her pocket but she didn't even remember to pull it out.

"Faster! Faster!"

Mireille's hands pushed her forward. Yui was freaked out, and she ran faster and faster through the corridors in random direction. As she came to the end of a corridor a couple of men had been waiting for her, and they pointed their gun at her….

"NOOO!"

BANG BANG BANG

"Get up, stupid! Do you want to die?" yelled Mireille, shooting at the men in front of them.

_Die? No… No I don't want to die!_

Yui pulled out the gun and aimed at the arms and legs of their attackers. This way, she didn't kill anyone. She just injuredthem bad enough not to catch up with her and Mireille.  
And that didn't please Mireille at all. It was really stupid.

"Where are we going?" asked Yui in hurry. Mireille was gaping at her for a split of second before she answered, "The office is at the end of the next corridor…"  
Mireille hadn't finished her words but Yui already ran to the place Mireille just mentioned.  
She didn't notice one of the men on the floor, who raised his hand and aimed for her back. Seeing that, Mireille could not believe how stupid her pupil was.

Mireille sighed.

BANG

Yui ran and ran. As soon as she arrived at the end of the corridor she saw a lot of bodyguards in front of the office. They saw her as well and shot at her without even letting out a cry.  
The door was open, and the target was inside. She aimed precisely at the certain parts of the bodyguards' bodies and rushed to the woman. Mireille ran after her and finished the men who were trying to attack Yui from behind. And there were quite many of them.  
Finally Yui arrived in front of the business woman and pointed the gun at her. The woman was trembling badly.

"Don't kill me.. please… what have I done to you?"

Yui unconsciously lowered her gun. This woman was not guilty. The only reason they hunted after this woman was because it was a task given to Mireille. There was no way Yui could kill this woman ruthlessly like Mireille did to her parents.  
That was such a perfect chance, and the woman didn't waste her time. As fast as light she revealed the gun she was holding under the table and shot at Yui.  
Yui was shocked. She couldn't move. Everything seemed to move 100 times slower than usual but yet she couldn't evade. All she did was closing her eyes tightly.

The bullet flew across the air and Yui heard the disgusting sound of the bullet embeddedinto the flesh. But it wasn't her flesh. Yui opened her eyes.  
And she saw Mireille holding her bleeding left shoulder.

Mireille protected her. Mireille… saved her life.

"Dammit..!" yelled the woman, now aiming once again at Yui.  
But this time Yui was faster. She raised her gun and shot at the woman, right into her heart. The woman gaped at her unbelievingly. Then she fell on the red carpet covering the floor. She didn't move at all. Her eyes wide opened.  
Yui stared at her trembling hands. She just killed someone. She just became a killer like Mireille….

"..Let's go.." Mireille said weakly. She tried her best to stand up from the floor and dragged Yui away from the place.

Mireille knew this would happen. She also knew that Yui would react this badly upon killing someone. But she wasn't ready to be the girl's mental support right now, especially if she was injured badly like this.

It was difficult enough to walk while holding her injured shoulder at the same time, but Mireille still had to take care of Yui. The girl looked as if she had just lost her soul, and if Mireille didn't drag her away, she would still be there in the office, surrounded by dead bodies.  
They escaped from the building through a secret back door. After some time they arrived in a park, which was quite deserted at that hour.  
Mireille panted heavily. The bullet was still inside her shoulder, and she could hardly see clearly. She was bleeding. Mireille ripped off the lower part of her shirt and bandaged her shoulder effectively. But that didn't help much. Mireille needed to have her wound treated properly. The sooner the better.

As Mireille looked up to Yui, the first thing she saw was Yui's gun. The girl pointed her gun at her, her expression showed nothing but hatred and fear.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note : My my.. someone has to remind me to update every week... -.-**

* * *

Mireille gave Yui a sad smile. 

"Not here," she said.  
With all her energy she toddled to the lake's direction. Yui followed her without saying anything, but she didn't lower her gun.  
Then they arrived in front of the lake and Mireille walked inside the water. The cold water made her lower body feel so numb, but she kept walking. As the water surface reached her waist, she stopped. Then she turned to Yui.  
The girl was still pointing the gun at her.  
Mireille stretched out her hands, still panting heavily while blood ran down her arms.  
"Well? Do it. This way, your hands are clean."

Mireille smiled once more at Yui. Then she closed her eyes.

Yui pulled the trigger.

BANG

* * *

As Mireille woke up, everything around her appeared to be white.  
She still remembered what she once read in children books as she was still a child. They said the heaven was up on the clouds, and everything was supposed to be white. White clouds, white clothes… white ceiling? Mireille shrugged in mind. Well there might be some buildings in heaven as well.  
So she was in heaven. She didn't believe it, but she landed in heaven. And she was lying. Where..?  
"Ouch..!" exclaimed Mireille, as she turned her neck to the side. Strange. This place looked so much like her own apartment. And with that she realized as well that there are pretty much un-white things around her. She had ever heard that in heaven they would live in the same place they lived on earth. Mireille smirked. If she knew that it was true, she would have bought some more entertainment devices to fill her apartment. She would even build a swimming pool inside her apartment---if only it was possible.  
Mireille tried her best to sit on the bed. Her shoulder was bandaged neatly, and she'd gotten a blood transfusion. Despite of those, she was quite allright.  
She didn't know that her wounds wouldn't be healed after death. She felt really alive as well. Too alive. So alive that she could feel immense pain everytime she moved her body. 

And as she was pondering about these mysterious phanomenes, someone appeared.  
Kirika. She was holding a tray with a bowl.  
Mireille's expression became softer. She reached out for the girl. "Ki…"  
But then she recognized the girl. Kirika never scowled at her like that. If it wasn't Kirika, then…  
"Wait a moment, did you kill yourself as well?" asked Mireille in disbelief.  
"Whatt?" came the answer. Yui was about to think that Mireille had some brain concussion.  
And then the penny dropped.  
Mireille let herself fall on the bed with a groan, covering her face with both hands.

Yui, still scowling suspiciously, came nearer.  
"Are you feeling allright?" she asked.  
Mireille opened her eyes and faced Yui.  
"I thought I heard a shot back then."  
Yui kept silent, staring at the porridge she cooked for Mireille.  
"Didn't you say you will attack me while I am not on guard? Looks like you didn't use the chance properly."  
Yui looked up to Mireille.  
"Or did the bullet miss me and you don't have any more bullet left?" asked Mireille furthermore.  
"That's not it!" exclaimed the girl with red face.  
"Someday, I will. But you got hurt because you saved my life. I am not such a coward. Don't think I already forgive you for my parents' death. I will never, never ever forgive you!" Yui added.  
Mireille smiled.

She thought seeing Kirika again would be the only thing that could warm her heart. But being alive and hearing those words coming from Yui somehow brought her the energy she needed to live.  
_Sorry, Kirika,_ Mireille thought while she stared at the ceiling. _I can not die yet. Not today…_

Yui went back to the kitchen to wash the dishes. The cold water poured on her hands, and she reached for the dirty plates. And there she saw it. Blood. Blood on her hands.  
Yui gasped shockedly. _It can't be. It can't be! Whose blood is it?  
_Yui rubbed on her hands frantically. But the blood spot didn't disappear. It seemed to become bigger and bigger…  
_But it can't be! I killed the woman, yes, but her blood didn't splash on me at all! Where does this blood come? Whose blood is it? _

Mom.. Dad… I am so scared….

I am a killer…

Yui dropped to the floor, staring emptily at the ceiling.  
She didn't know how long she had been sitting on the floor absent-mindedly like that, but as she looked at her hands afterward, they were clean.

After finishing the dishes, Yui returned back to the living room. And the bed was empty.  
The patient was already in front of her laptop. Mireille was typing frantically on her laptop. It looked like she was chatting with someone.  
Tiptoeing behind Mireille like a cat, Yui managed to see what Mireille was typing.  
**"I have no idea where the girl is."  
"She couldn't have disappeared in air easily."** came the answer.  
**"Then perhaps she ran from home at the same time. Many teenagers do that in their ages."  
"I hope that is no lie, Mireille Bouquet."  
"Definitely not, Mr. Chestley."  
**Yui gasped.  
Mireille turned to her, her eyes wide opened. The girl stared at the laptop screen frightenedly.  
**"I need to leave, Mr. Chestley, unless you have anything more to say."  
"There's nothing more. Thanks for the cooperation then."  
"My pleasure."**

Mireille closed the chatting window.  
"So now you know. They are still searching for you. Be careful from now on."  
"That means they will find me sometime? They will surely find me here!" blabbered Yui, trembling all the way.  
"This is the safest place you can be." answered Mireille. "Believe me, as long as you don't run away from here, you are safe."  
Yui just looked at Mireille as if Mireille just told her something insane.

"Anyway, let's forget it. He will give up with the time. What can a high schooler do anyway? Furthermore, you are not blood-related to them."  
"I can injure them!" replied Yui.  
"Oh, and about the injuring matter as well. I need to talk to you about it."  
Mireille stood up from her chair.  
"Do you happen to know that actually without me trailing behind you last time, you would have been killed seven times?  
Injuring someone isn't enough to guarantee for your safety. Think about it. If you really don't want to kill anyone, at least make sure they really already pass out before you move on. This way-"  
"I know, I know! I know already!"  
Yui cowered on the floor, both of her hands covering her ears.

"I don't want to hear again! I don't want to kill anymore!"  
"Yes, but-"  
"Nooo!"  
Yui ran to the bathroom. The click told Mireille that she locked herself inside.  
Mireille sighed. Teenager problems? She felt like being a mum who had just born a teenager and not a baby.

If Mireille could choose, she actually preferred to work alone than to bring Yui with her. Not that Yui was so bad in her skills. After all, Mireille never expected her to be as good as Kirika. But it was her stupid determination not to kill furthermore.  
No matter what Mireille said, Yui refused to change her pattern. She could aim well, sure. But if she only aimed for arms and legs and then left her attackers behind without realizing that they could attack her from behind, it was too big a mistake.  
Only one thing was good enough in this matter. Not every mission they got required killing many people/bodyguards.

For the second and third task for example, Mireille did all the work and Yui just accompanied her silently.

Today they planned to carry on the fourth task since they started living and working together, and Mireille wasn't at ease at all. Nor was Yui.

"Are you ready?"  
Yui sat on the floor with her head on her knees. The girl looked up to Mireille as the latter spoke to her.  
"Yes, I am… allright."  
Yui got up slowly and walked to the door.  
Mireille looked at her back worriedly. The girl had been less livelier since their first task. There was definitely something going on in her mind, but Mireille just couldn't figure it out. If this kept going on, Yui wouldn't survive for a long time….

They arrived at the appointed place in time. It was an old remoted building.  
Mireille and Yui hid behind a wall, spying on two men walking inside of a room. One of them was their client, who agreed to lurk their target out to this place.  
Mireille loaded her gun. She threw a sidelook at Yui. The japanese girl looked exhausted and sleepy as well.  
"Are you ready?" asked Mireille again.  
Yui nodded. She held her gun loosely in her left hand. Mireille couldn't help but worry even more.  
"Well then."  
Mireille raised a rifle. She loved her Walther, but it wasn't the best gun to hit a person from a fair distance.  
"If we have luck, then we can go home straight away," she said to comfort Yui.  
The girl nodded weakly and looked at the ground.  
Mireille looked through a round glass on the rifle to aim. She slowly pulled the trigger.  
As agreed, their client already took quite a distance between the target and himself.The target was smirking to their client, not aware of the Damocles' sword above him.  
And the blond assassin shot toward at his heart.  
Exactly after the bullet left the rifle, the target stepped aside.  
The bullet tore his sleeve and hit the big wooden box behind him.

The target gaped at the bullet embedded to the box. Mireille couldn't believe it. She muttered a curse, and for the first time that day she really got Yui's attention. Now the target was fully aware that he was in danger. He ran randomly out of the room, while their client already made himself out of the way.

"Damn it, Plan B!" yelled Mireille, rushing to the left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note : To celebrate my successful organic practical course...**

* * *

Mireille ran along the gang in front of her swiftly while keeping eye on anyone passing by. All she was thinking about that time was how to finish the mission successfully without any flaws. And more than that, to keep her and Yui's identities hidden.  
She was pretty sure that their target just now had seen them. Only for a moment, but Mireille couldn't risk it.  
She had no idea what happened to Yui.

Yui heard Mireille's shout, "Plan B!". The problem was, she didn't listen to Mireille's words carefully last night, as the blond assassin told her about Plan B. She was quite sure that everything would go well as always. But this time it looked like she should have listened well to Mireille last night.  
And as she was back from her daydreams, Mireille was nowhere to see.

Yui ran blindly along the dark corridor. She was so afraid. She wanted to call out Mireille's name, she wanted the blond assassin to be with her. But no sound came from her mouth. Her heartbeats were the only thing she heard at that moment.  
After running for quite a while Yui stopped to catch some breath. She looked around suspiciously. This building was not familiar to her. And worse than that, it was all dark and she could hardly see her paths.

Yui wiped the sweat on her forehead. She needed to do something. She needed to do something if she didn't want to die yet. She had to stay alive!

CLICK

Yui's eyes were wide open in horror. She felt somethingwas sticked toher head from behind.  
"Don't move," came a voice of the person holding the gun against the back of her head.  
"I finally got you, heheheeh…"  
Yui trembled terribly. She tried to raise her hand which held the gun, but she couldn't.  
She thought it couldn't be worse, but the worst part still lied before her.

Mireille appeared from the dark, her face showed determination.

"Retreat! Retreat or I kill this girl!" yelled their target---in this case perhaps their hunter.  
Mireille stopped walking. She stared at Yui and the man keeping her hostage attentively.

The man laughed insanely. "Heheh, good girl… now drop your gun! I said drop your gun!"  
Yui shook her head frantically. Her tears flooded her face. This wasn't what she wanted! She didn't want Mireille to end this way!

Mireille put down her rifle cautiously.  
"The gun as well! Quickly!"  
The blond assassin reluctantly revealed her Walther and put it on the floor as well. All she could think about was how to get both of them alive out of this place. But the situation didn't seem to allow that to happen. Yui wasn't at her best mental condition. Mireille knew the girl hadn't been sleeping properly this week. That way, she became a burden to Mireille. Her Achilles heel.

The man kicked Mireille's Walther away. Then he walked forward, forcing Mireille to walk backward. At the very moment Yui's and Mireille's eyes met. Yui read her lips.  
"Die." said the man, raising his gun.  
_Give me. Your gun._

The next scenes seemed to play in a very quick sequence. Yui threw her gun at Mireille. The blond girl caught it in a perfect position and fired at the man.  
At first Yui thought the man was about to choke her. She thought Mireille missed. But then the grip around her neck was loosened and she heard a bumping sound behind her.  
Then she couldn't remember anything more.

* * *

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, she collapsed because of the shock. Other than that, more nutritious foods might be of a help as well."  
"Thanks, Bill. I don't know what I will do without you."  
"It's okay Mireille. But really, you two don't seem to be able to cooperate yet. Last time as this girl called me because of your injuries I really was stunned. After all, it doesn't happen all time."  
"Well well… that's life, Bill."  
"By the way Mireille… isn't this girl…"  
"Sssh, hey, she wakes up!"

Yui opened her eyes. She saw two familiar faces. The doctor, and…. Mireille. The blond woman was smiling at her.

"You are going to be well soon. Ooops…" Bill the doctor looked at his wristwatch. "Guess I have to go now. I still have many things to do."  
Mireille walked him to the door.  
"Bye Bill, thanks again."  
"Bye." came the reply.  
Then the door shut.

Yui rolled to the side so that she wouldn't see Mireille coming back to the bed.  
But she did. The sound of the footsteps told her that Mireille went back to see her.  
Then a deep sigh.

Mireille sat on the side of the bed.

"Perhaps I am supposed to praise you." she began. "I know no normal high-schooler who can manage doing this business with the same bravery you have shown until now."  
Yui clutched on the bed sheet.  
"I am sorry to make you do this. I promise, I will find you better place as soon as possible. But for now… please stay by my side. I can't bear the thought of you in the situation like today ever again."  
Yui closed her eyes tightly.

"What is it actually? I don't know you good enough to judge you, but you don't seem to be the same Yui Sanders I met five months ago."  
Mireille turned at Yui, who still refused to face her.  
"I think it is not easy to tell me what's wrong, but… I will do anything to keep you alive, so if you feel like talking, I will listen."

Tears blurred Yui's sight. Why? Why was this woman only so nice to her? If it wasn't because of her, she wouldn't get involved in all those dangerous situations.

Mireille didn't understand teenage rush. Or teenage problems. She was once a teenage herself, but she had always dealt with the dark side of the world since her early age. She had no idea what happened to Yui. She didn't know what attacked her mental so greatly. If only the girl could tell her what's wrong….  
Mireille stirred the porridge in the pan.  
Did Kirika undergo the same thing in their early time together?  
Yes, but that was different. Kirika asked herself repeatedly why she could kill people mercilessly. And yet she never let the thought affect her skill.  
This girl… Yui. If only she had half of Kirika's self-control….

Mireille looked up from the pan. Yui had entered the kitchen. She looked somewhat pale.

"Hungry?" Mireille raised the ladle she was holding. "Wait a moment, I will finish soon."  
Yui nodded weakly.

They ate in silence. Mireille kept throwing a side look at Yui, wondering what she was thinking about. Then the girl spoke up.  
"I see blood. Everywhere."  
Mireille put down her cutleries.  
"At the beginning it was only my hands. And then.. then my arms.. one day I woke up and my body was covered with blood."  
The knowledge struck Mireille like a thunder.  
"I was.. was so afraid.. I can't stop seeing the blood, I…. I am a killer. It is too heavy a burden for me and yet I can't back off now…"  
Yui started crying.  
Mireille didn't say anything.  
That's it. She already said it. Yui knew it was so ungrateful of her to tell Mireille about it as if condemning her for making her kill. Yui knew there was no other way out, but she couldn't get used to this.

"Yui…"

Yui put her hands off her face and looked at Mireille. The woman held her gun in front of her. It was covered in blood.

"No! No!" Yui stood up and ran away.  
Mireille grabbed her wrist and forced her to sit on the floor.  
"See it clearly. There is no blood. No blood!"  
"No, no! No, don't force me, don't force me! I don't wanna see it!"  
"Yui!"  
Mireille pulled Yui to herself and embraced her tightly.  
"I don't understand your suffering, I really don't!" she screamed.  
Her body was shaking.

"All I can promise you is that you are not alone! I will always be there for you!"  
Mireille tightened her embrace that Yui could hardly breath.

Suddenly Yui realized something. It was true. Mireille was always there. It was her who ran away from Mireille all the time. She thought she was alone, but actually…. actually she wasn't alone at all.  
The blackhaired girl hugged the blond woman back.  
That night, they slept together holding hands. Yui had a slight fever and she didn't sleep until two hour a.m. She just looked at Mireille's sleeping face. Sometime afterwards she felt asleep for exhaustion.

The next morning, she didn't see any trace of blood at all. All she saw was Mireille's smiling face. And for the first time in these five months, Yui was glad to see her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note : Really, I miss ur reviews, guys. But if you are not in mood, what can I say? Hope you like this one chapter :-P**

* * *

Yui was thankful to Mireille for a lot of things she had done for her. Not only that she protected her, she also healed her soul.  
After Yui stopped hating Mireille, she came to notice a lot of things in Mireille's apartment. There were some pot plants in the apartment, which Mireille tended very carefully. Yui didn't know how come Mireille took care of plants that much. She didn't look like a plants lover.  
And then there was the atmosphere in the apartment. Mireille really astounded Yui with her quick adaptation to her presence. After all, Mireille lived alone all the time. How come she got used to Yui so quickly?

But apart of that, it pained Yui to see how Mireille put a barrierre around her. Sure, they were very close by now. Mireille laughed with her and talked with her about many things. And yet Yui noticed a secret Mireille kept very well hidden in the deepest corner in her heart. Yui had absolutely no chance to touch this secret… And that displeased her the most. She wanted to know more and more about her. She wanted to share her secrets.

"What are you thinking about?"  
Yui snapped back to reality.  
"Oh nothing! What is it, Mireille?" Yui asked, shifting the topic hurrily.  
Mireille smiled.  
"Nothing, actually. Really, we will go broken one day if there's no more tasks for us."  
"Booring…" whined the japanese girl, yawning. "I miss my school in Japan."  
"Really? Was it fun back then?"  
Yui nodded energetically.  
"The exams are not fun at all, but my classmates are really nice people to spend the time with. We liked to eat ice cream together in Shinjuku. Usually we went there to celebrate something or to be depressed about something."  
Mireille frowned her forehead.  
"What, to be depressed about something?"  
"Yeah, for example that time as Satomi's parents got divorced. Chizuru and I spent the whole evening accompanying her while she cried all the time."  
Mireille gave a "Mm-hmm" as an answer.  
"And what about you, Mireille? What did you do back at school? How was your school life?" asked Yui cheerfully.  
"I never had such days." answered Mireille shortly. Then she turned away from Yui.  
Again. Again, Yui felt like colliding into an invisible wall. She didn't think it was appropriate to ask furthermore. The conversation stopped there.

It was unusual, but the peaceful days went on. Soon Mireille decided to chase some new hobbies, including visiting some beauty salon and shopping to relax herself. Even Yui had a new hobby : to accompany Mireille wherever she went.  
Then one day, Mireille left the japanese girl alone at home since she had to meet some people for business purpose.  
"I will be back as soon as I can. Don't open the door for strangers, don't.."  
"I know, I know, go already!" said Yui, pushing Mireille to the door.  
"We.. well then.."  
Mireille waved unsurely at Yui and left.

Yui took a deep breath. Rarely did Mireille leave her alone, but once she was gone Yui really missed her.  
So what should she do know? She needed to spend time in a smart way. Perhaps cleaning up the apartment?

_PIIIP_

"Huh?"  
Yui turned at the laptop. It was on. Mireille forgot to turn off the laptop. That was rare.  
Yui tiptoed to the laptop playfully and took a peek at the screen.  
"Ara, a new email. Looks like a new task. Mireille will be pleased."  
The girl took a seat.  
She never touched the laptop, since it all dealt with the assassination business. And now she was wondering if the laptop might bring her some informations about Mireille Bouquet.  
Yui minimized all windows and started with the desktop. As usual, there were shortcuts to some programs, plus a very interesting icon.  
"'mail' ?"  
What a short, simple description, she thought. She double-clicked on the icon.  
Yui jerked as a soft melody played from the laptop.  
"Uh-o-oh… what have I done?" Yui started to panick around. Then the display showed some words along with the melody.

**"Mireille, I love you.  
I don't know if I have more time to say it to you. But I can die in peace because I know that you will read this mail whatever happened.  
Mireille, do you still remember when you heard this melody for the first time? I sent it to you via email, begging you to make a pilgrimage to the past with me.  
It has been a long time ever since, Mireille. Isn't it?**

**You must have thought that you wouldn't ever heard this melody again. But I do intend to let you hear it, for the last time. This melody began our pilgrimage together. It will also end our pilgrimage. This is the end, then.  
I am so sorry that I have to leave you alone, Mireille. Sorry because I will die soon. If I could choose, I just want to be right beside you. It hurts me so much to say good bye this way.  
Don't be sad about my death. I want you to live on after my death.  
Mireille, whom I cherish... please don't forget who you are, whatever happened. **

Good bye..

Kirika."

Yui felt dizzy all of the sudden. She really felt sick. Her head was spinning. Rather harshly she closed the email with a hard click on the mouse.  
_What… what was that?_

**Mireille, I love you.  
**

_Love? This girl is talking about love. She loved Mireille!  
So Mireille had a lover.  
That's it. That's the secret she has been hiding cleverly all the time.  
_

Something was burning deep inside of Yui. This mail! This damn mail! The pointer moved to delete the mail.  
She was never this angry before. She wanted to shatter the whole laptop!

* * *

Mireille came home an hour later, and she was really confused to find Yui scowling at her again, this time with a death glare.  
"What happened? Hey…"  
Yui pushed her hand aside and threw herself on the bed.  
Mireille promised herself not to leave Yui alone ever again. It looked like the girl could change personality in count of two hours.

Mireille wished, it was only a bad mood. But if it was a bad mood, then Yui would never have good mood ever again. Yui still scowled at her a lot of time one week after the day. She didn't even look away everytime Mireille's eyes met hers. It was Mireille who later gave up and look away.

Yui sat quietly on the floor. She managed to find out something about Mireille's former lover. It was an old mail, apparently. But Mireille kept it on the desktop, she really treasured the mail! If that's so, there must be more things of the girl in this apartment. Yui needed more time to look for them. Where? Where did Mireille hide their memories?

Mireille stared at the computer screen. She just realised she had so many things to do although they currently didn't have any task offered.  
Mireille moved the cursor to the start button. But then she stopped in the middle. There was something wrong!  
Mireille tried her best to calm herself. But something was missing on the desktop! Something really important. Something really precious.  
And it made a click in her head. Only one person could have erased the mail. She turned at Yui, who stopped scowling at Mireille after noticing her eyes.

"Yui, where… where is the mail?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note : I am sorry for every grammatical mistake you notice in this chapter. Currently I am so down because I just failed an exam I have put so much efforts in. Well... that's why I am kinda not in a mood to recheck the grammar. Gomen ne... and thank you for the reviews last chapter. I am really happy reading your reviews ;;**

* * *

Yui gulped. Mireille did notice it. A week too late, but she noticed the disappearance of the mail.  
Mireille rushed to Yui and grabbed her shoulders.  
"WHERE? WHERE IS THE MAIL?"  
Mireille's nails cut into her flesh.  
"I.. I don't know… what.. are you talking about! Mireille that hurts let me go!"  
Yui wound in Mireille's grip. She was scared. She was so scared of Mireille.  
Mireille loosened her grip and Yui broke free. She jumped and took a fair distance from Mireille. The latter didn't move at all.  
She was trying her best to remember when she last read the mail. When did she see the icon the last timeon her desktop? Could it be that she deleted it accidentally? The probability that she had deleted the mail nearly drove her insane. Couldn't be…. it couldn't be… but if noone deleted it then… then how come it disappeared?

What did Kirika say again?  
What exactly did Kirika say?

Mireille got up and opened the office program. She bit on her nail as she tried to remember what Kirika had written on her last letter to her.  
_I know, I know! I have read it a lot of times I can't possibly forget it!_

It started with a "I love you, Mireille" or was it "Mireille, I love you"? What came next?  
The more she tried to remember the farther the words drifted away. Mireille already forgot what Kirika had written in the mail. The mail was gone forever now.  
It was… gone. Mireille's tears came flooding her face.  
It couldn't be! It couldn't be!

Yui looked at Mireille disbelievingly. Despite all of Mireille's cool attitudes she was eventually able to show this great deal of emotion toward someone. And this someone was her former lover. Yui didn't want to see Mireille suffer that much.  
She walked to the blond woman and moved the mouse.

CLICK CLICK

Mireille looked up.

CLICK CLICK

And Kirika's mail reappeared before her.  
"Aaaaahh!" cried Mireille.  
Yui looked away from the overjoyed Mireille.  
"I just put it in a directory. Never thought that you will be so shocked upon losing such a…"

She was at loss of words. Mireille continued crying in front of the laptop. It was pathetic. It really was.  
"I go to bed earlier!" yelled Yui and stamped away.  
She was really angry. Mireille never showed such an emotion for her sake. It was for another girl. Yui was really angry.

Mireille didn't come to bed that night. And Yui didn't sleep at all.

* * *

The morning afterwards it was rather cold and misty outside. The dark sky was rumbling, and the radio announced an upcoming storm. People on street should go home quickly for warmth and protection.

And yet warmth was nowhere to be found in Mireille and Yui's residence.

Yui was angry but she also felt guilty for everything that happened. She wanted to apologize but she wanted to hear a sorry from Mireille first. Actually there was nothing Mireille ought to apologize for, but Yui felt betrayed.  
Mireille was simply angry. She was angry at Yui but she didn't intend to clear the matter as well. It was her business what she wanted to do with her laptop or what kind of stuffs she wanted to put on the desktop. There was no way she would let Yui interfere in her privacy, even if she looked like Kirika.

The whole day both of them were busy with their own thoughts and angers. But none of them showed their childish sides to the other as well.  
They did talk. But very limitedly.  
During the lunch for example, the only things they said to each other were "Pass me the salt, please." and "Thank you."

The storm struck harshly that night, together with thunders and lightnings.  
Yui realized that night that she couldn't sleep with a lot of noise around her, as she jerked off from her sleep because of a striking thunder. _Once again_, she sighed_, I have to stay awake all night.  
_Yui turned around and noone was beside her. So Mireille didn't come to bed today as well.  
The japanese girl walked to the kitchen and made herself a warm chocolate. Then she went to the living room. The lamp was already off, but the table lamp was on. She could see Mireille's sleeping face beside the laptop. Her hand was holding the mouse.

If Yui didn't remember how serious this matter could be, she would think that it was ridiculous. So Mireille intended to guard her laptop all the time, or better said to guard the little icon on the desktop, which was now already back to the desktop.  
Yui sighed deeply.  
What kind of person this Kirika could be?  
What kind of person might cause Mireille to cherish every memory they had together?

Yui fetched a blanket from the storage room and wrapped it around Mireille. Then she went to the window and drank her warm chocolate while watching the storm.

As Mireille woke up, she found herself still wrapped warmly in a thick blanket. Yui was back in the bed, and a cup with some trace of chocolate was left beside Mireille.

Yui woke up around 11 o'clock, and Mireille was preparing some lunch at that time. The girl showed up in the kitchen with quite a strange, and yet much milder expression. Mireille didn't know it, but she didn't stare at Yui anymore that time. And that encouraged Yui the most. The girl took deep breath.

"I am so sorry," she said firmly. "I am so sorry for everything. For removing the mail from the desktop, for interfering in your business, for everything."  
Mireille gave her a relieved smile.  
Yui was stunned, but she was glad everything was settled by now.

Things went back to normal. They still talked and laughed with each other. One of the walls surrounding Mireille crumbled down, revealing many walls with Kirika's name written on them. Those were the walls Yui would never be able to cross. After all, those walls were so far from her reach. But it pained Yui more now, now that she knew that a certain someone had her own place on all those walls. A very special place. A world for two which Mireille and Kirika created together.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note : Sorry guys I am still down ;-( Right after I finish this chapter I submit it and it is 23.00 here. Be nice to me and tolerate any grammatical mistakes as well? Thank you!**

* * *

"May I make a phone call?"

Mireille looked up to Yui, who nervously played with her spoon.  
It was lunch time, and both of them were enjoying their meal before doing their next mission.

"Huh? Why all of the sudden?" asked the blond assassin.  
"I miss my friends, really. I want to talk to them. I want to tell them how I am. They sure are worried about me."

"It is dangerous, Yui." answered Mireille with determination. "You know that as well."

Yui's whole expression showed very clearly that she was very disappointed.

Mireille never had so many friends, especially not close friends whom she would spend every weekend with. And yet she had friends, whom she trusted enough to reveal her true identity. All of them were conscious that their life's on stake while they made friends with Mireille.  
Mireille wasn't sure that Yui's happy friends in Japan were trustworthy. No. She didn't believe that they were trustworthy at all. What did highschoolers know about life? What did they know about sacrifice and loyalty? They would possibly trade the information against money, or perhaps it would slip off their mouths. If we were lucky, they would be heroic enough to reveal the existence of their friends because their families were taken as hostages.

Yui ate her meat sandwich sullenly. She knew exactly that Mireille wouldn't consent to her wish, but deep inside she hoped Mireille would know what to do so that she could contact her friends securely. The hope turned out to be nothing.

Yui was glad, though, that she at least had Mireille with her, although Mireille's heart was bound to Kirika.  
As she was hiding behind a wall during their mission that afternoon, watching Mireille who lured in the darkness, she asked herself if Mireille even considered her a friend.

Mireille gave her a sign and they ran out of their hideouts to attack their enemies.

Their team work couldn't be better. This time, after being much more familiar to Mireille, Yui learned to put off her obstinacy and attack whole-heartedly. Mireille was simply glad to see this improvement. She no longer had to turn to Yui everytime to ensure her safety. She could protect herself better by now.

Yui couldn't stop thinking about her relationship with Mireille. Since she lost her whole family and the only one staying by her side was Mireille, there was no wonder she would see Mireille as they next important person in her life.  
It was different with Mireille. Mireille didn't lose anything or anyone before she met Yui. Yui was only a spare part. No. Yui wasn't even a spare part. Yui was a burden.

"I will go buy some packs of bullets," Mireille told her one day.

Yui was reading a story book, and she was pretty astounded Mireille told her about such thing.

"Wanna come with me?"  
Now she was really surprised. What might possess Mireille?  
She agreed to come with her, though.

They walked side by side in silence. Yui wanted to cheer up the weird situation with some jokes or interesting topics, but she ended up walking shyly beside Mireille without saying any word. Yui didn't know what Mireille was thinking about that time, but all she could think about, since she knew about Kirika, was Kirika.  
Yui used every chance she got to examine the whole apartment to look for Kirika's stuffs, including the cup with the broken handle, but her efforts until now were in vain. Mireille sure knew how to hide her stuffs.

She already checked the cupboards. The wardrobes. Even the kitchen, the bathroom, and the toilet. Nothing. The bed was also as normal as every other bed. The windows were plenty, but there were nothing hidden behind them as well.  
Being a girl who was proud of her japanese heritance, she also thought about the way ninjas would hide their stuffs. The floors. The attic. There was nothing suspicious with the floors. No attic.

Since the incidence, Mireille never forgot to turn off her laptop whenever she went away. On top of that, she locked the usage of the laptop with a password. It wasn't Kirika's name, it wasn't her name, it wasn't Pochi, it wasn't Neko, or some exotic words Yui had ever thought of in her life.

Although Yui was sure she would get the most information through Mireille's laptop, she was sure there must be more concrete things that could help her know more about Kirika. Things like the cup with the broken handle. Or plate. Or anything.

So where? Where could it be?

"Where..?"

"Uh, didn't I tell you we are going to the bullet store?"

Yui fell back to the real world.  
She gasped in horror as she realized that she accidentally said the word "Where" outloud. Fortunately Mireille mistook her. That was great. Otherwise, she wouldn't know how to explain to Mireille about that. Mireille wouldn't be excited to know that Yui ransacked her apartment whenever she was out of house alone.

"You must be surprised why I take you with me for this simple matter," said Mireille, staring at Yui with determination.  
Yui gulped. Uh, yes she did wonder why, but… Mireille talked about this? This must be something important…  
She gasped innerly. Couldn't be… about Kirika?

"I think about many things lately, especially about all that we have been through all this time together."

Yui's face muscle suddenly tightened up. This was it! This was it! She was gonna talk about Kirika after all!

"I feel like it is important to tell you more about dealing with this world you just entered. Structure and organisations, strategies, and movements. I think it is time to train you to be on your own feet. You are a good assassin already. You only need a push in the back and you will be okay."

Yui was so disappointed. Disappointment was written all over her face, and Mireille misunderstood it as disagreement.

"Too burdening for you? I am sorry. Just come with me for today and forget the place until you are ready then." said Mireille hurrily.

"Huh? What?" stutter Yui, finally trying to keep up with Mireille's thoughts. "No, no! I don't mean it! Of course I am ready, uh I mean, I will try my best!"  
Mireille blinked in disbelief. But then she smiled.  
"That's the spirit," she praised the younger girl.

Walking back home as if just having bought groceries, Mireille and Yui chatted carefreely about things that were so much different from that, what they went through everyday. Yui got a short lecture concerning bullets and guns while buying the bullet packs, and she was pretty interested in it.  
She also got to see Mireille's warm smile the whole evening, although it was only a fake smile to cover her true identity.  
As they walked home they walked past the park, and Yui was glad for having Mireille the whole ten minutes all for her. Until now, only once did they go to a park together. As Yui threatened to kill Mireille.

_My my, that seems to be centuries away…_ she thought smilingly.

Yui ran cheerfully inside the apartment and put down the bullet packs on the table. Mireille locked the door behind them and went to the kitchen to prepare the dinner. She wasn't in mood to cook anything glamolous that day, but she found herself three hours later with two plates of prawn steak, fruit salad, and even cream pudding. Mireille was satisfied with herself.

"Yui, dinner." she called, putting off her apron.

Yui came to the dining table and the first thing she said was "WOWW".  
Mireille smiled proudly.  
"Well, I surpassed myself tonight," she announced. "Then, let's eat."

"Itadakimasu!" cried Yui gleefully. With the first piece of the steak she yelled a "Delicious!", and Mireille could only laugh at her.

The dinner was perfect. The food was great, and both Yui and Mireille were in good mood. Mireille didn't know what might possess her that night, but she ended up talking about something she had always wanted to talk to Yui about.

"Yui.." Mireille called the japanese girl half-heartedly.  
The latter looked up from her steak with a puzzled look.  
"I have to talk about something.."  
Yui put down her knife and fork and listened carefully to Mireille.  
"Ah no need to be so tense. You can eat while listening to me." said Mireille, making some hand gestures as to tell Yui to carry on with the food.

"I was thinking about…. well we have been together for quite a long time, and I did promise in the past to look for a safe place for you to live on securely,"

A bad premonition overcame Yui. She never really thought that one day they would come to talk about this. But of course! After all, that's the reason why she stayed with Mireille. Mireille would look for a nice little place for her to live and at the end, they would be separated.  
Had Mireille found the place then? Would she kick Yui away from her apartment?


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note : Okay, I am not depressed anymore. I am just too busy and I hurt my neck because of sleeping pose. Anyway, this chapter is only a prequel to another problem. Ah.. I can't keep promise to myself huh?**

* * *

"Yui.."

"No, stop it!" cried Yui, covering both her ears. "I don't want to hear it!"

Mireille was taken aback. She didn't expect such a reaction from Yui. The girl was crying terribly in front of her now. But Mireille didn't mean anything bad. She thought Yui also wanted it that way. She didn't mean to hurt the girl..

Mireille opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't know what to say. It looked like the whole nice mood for the night was already destroyed.

"You know," sobbed Yui. "I know that I am not exactly a person who is in the position to demand this and that, but don't you think that…"  
"That I deserve something better than that..?" she continued in misery.

The blond assassin suddenly realized that she had made a big mistake. It was a decision she made without taking notice at Yui's feelings.  
Mireille rubbed her forehead. She stared at her empty plate.

"I am sorry," Mireille whispered. "I will do my best to find a better place for you then."  
Yui stopped sobbing and muttered a "Huh?"  
Mireille continued eating her pudding.  
"What.. what did you say just now?" Yui inquired eagerly with big eyes.  
Mireille smiled at the girl softly. "I will try harder to find you a better place outside then. You are right. You deserve something better than this place. I am so sorry."

Yui gaped at Mireille. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANT!" she screamed in frustration.

Mireille's heart jumped to her throat. Yui was looming before her, and she looked very angry.

"I don't want to get out of this place! I don't need you to find a better place! I just…"  
Yui slapped her own mouth in surprise. She had just acted pretty out of mind just now. What a shame.  
Yui turned as red as tomatoes.  
"Uh, I mean, um…" Yui felt that she had a very high fever right now. Her face felt so hot.  
Yui had no idea how Mireille would interpret her words and actions just now, but it appeared to Yui like a love confession. It was already terrible enough that Mireille still loved Kirika, but now she even got to know that Yui liked to be with her so much. This was too much for Yui. The girl simply wanted the floor beneath her to crack up and swallow her.

And Mireille still gaped at her unbelievingly.  
"Noo!" Yui yelled and ran to the bathroom.

Mireille was still sitting on her chair five minutes later, unmoving. If she didn't mistake Yui, then the girl wanted to live here with her for longer time. But something in her actions contained something. Mireille wasn't that dense about feelings, but….

KNOCK KNOCK

Yui jerked and wiped off her tears.

"Yui.."

"W.. what is it?" stuttered Yui, trying her best to hide her coarse voice. It was way too embarrassing for her to face or to talk to Mireille right now. Her face still burned like fire.  
"Welcome to my world, for good or for bad."

Yui opened the door and hugged Mireille. The latter was pretty surprised to be hugged all that sudden, but she put her arms around Yui as well. Sometimes she thought that Yui was very cute.

After being promoted from a mere "burden" or better said "guest" to a roommate, Yui finally found her place to live, by Mireille's side.  
At first she was confused about her role in the household. Or whatever it was called. But then she quickly decided to take care of everything in the apartment. Cleaning, cooking, groceries, as a matter of fact, an ideal housewife.

Mireille didn't exactly remember how she and Kirika once shared the household tasks among them. One thing for sure—Kirika had always been in charge of making tea and watering the plants. Mireille was usually busy with the business part of their job, back then or now. Since she and Kirika travelled a lot, they never really bothered to restock the food supply at home regularly. They used to buy what they wanted to eat fifteen minutes before they ate. That was not exactly the kind of life people dreamt of, but Mireille and Kirika were glad enough to have time to eat.

With Yui it was a bit different. The japanese girl wanted everything to be in order. Mireille never really noticed this habit of her, but Yui had fun in keeping things in order. She didn't like dirty dishes piling up for more than three hours in the wash basin, and she kept using the washing machine like crazy.  
Yui wasn't good in cooking—because she never had to, in Japan, she meant. Mireille was in charge for cooking, and to her own surprise, she actually was able to mix things together to fix a delicious meal for two.

"Mireille, we are out of milk." stated Yui one day.  
"Huh?" asked Mireille, still typing an answer for the job offer they got that morning.  
"We need to buy some milk," repeated Yui.  
"Do we need milk so much? I don't drink milk often," Mireille turned to Yui  
"Well I don't, as well." replied Yui. "But we have cornflakes at home, and one day we will surely eat them, right?"

"I can eat cornflakes without milk," joked Mireille laughingly.  
Yui pulled a face. "I will go buy some stuffs to fill the refrigerator," she said, picking her jacket and her new hat.  
"Yui, really, you don't have to buy groceries everyday. This is already the third time! We are so busy anyway, we won't stay home that often to eat all those foods."  
"Noone knows. I'm going!"  
The door slammed shut. The girl was already gone. Mireille muttered a "Careful on your way" and continued working on her laptop.

It was in the beginning of autumn, and the wind blew coldly. Yui had been in Paris for about six month by now. She could barely realize how fast the time was running. Many things happened in such a short time, but Yui was sure more things awaited them in the future. Only one thing should not change. Only one. Yui wanted to be with Mireille, forever.

Yui closed her eyes and prayed in silence. She had never paid any attention to religion or to God, but this time she only had one wish, and she would pray any time as long as this wish was granted.

The wind blew pretty hard and Yui could hear the leaves whirling in the wind artistically. Then something soft touched her leg. Yui opened her eyes.  
A brown fur hat lied next to her feet.  
Yui picked up the hat, and she knew right away whom the hat belonged to.

A beautiful girl her age with blue eyes and silver blond hair was standing about three meters away from her, smiling at her. She wore a brown fur coat, which the fur hat suited very much.  
Yui wasn't aware that her mouth was opened. She was deep in amazement.

It was in the beginning of autumn, and the wind blew coldly. Yui had been in Paris for about six month by now. And she met an angel for the first time in her life.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note : Aww thanks guys for the reviews! I am soo happy XD. So the story is, after all, going to be a very long one. I can't wait to finish the next chapter... my my I sure am slacking in updating my own stories...**

* * *

It was unusual to eat ice cream in such a cold weather, but Yui accepted the beautiful girl's offer to have some in a tiny shop.

"I'll treat you," she said smilingly.  
"Ehh? But…"  
"Just take it as a thanks because you pick up my hat,"  
She turned to the ice cream shop owner before Yui had any chance to answer. The latter girl took a seat on a wooden bank and watched the girl she had just met.

_Mireille is beautiful as well_, thought Yui, watching the blond girl's back admiringly. _But this girl is extraordinary. Well.. she looks like those angels in children stories. I remember my mum used to read my some bedtime stories back then….  
Oh mum, how I miss you……  
_The girl turned to Yui with two cones of ice creams. Yui jerked and blushed because she had been staring at the girl for a long time. _Now she will surely think I am weird…._

The angel smiled. "What's your name?"  
Yui's face brightened up. "My name is Yui," she answered cheerfully.  
For a split of a second Yui was sure something flackered inside the girl's eyes but it must be one of her imaginations. She ignored it.  
"And you?"  
The girl blinked and smiled.  
"My name is Rosalie."  
"Wow, what a beautiful name! It suits you very much!" exaggerated Yui.  
Rosalie's cheek was slightly pink because of the cold weather but it only made her prettier. Yui could name a thousand things of Rosalie which she admired. It was like meeting an idol. Yui really, really liked Rosalie.

"Say Yui, wanna be friends?"

"I am home..!"  
Mireille frowned as she saw Yui running energetically toward the kitchen.  
"Yui, I was beginning to worry. Where were you actually?"  
"Ah, I am allright! What do we want for dinner? I will even try making some dishes for us!"  
Mireille knew nothing about Yui's cooking ability, but she didn't want to take any risk.  
"Thanks," she stood up quickly. "I will make some dinner for us."  
"Then I will help with the preparations!" chirped Yui.

Yui didn't know that good mood helped in doing a lot of boring things. She even had fun in peeling potatoes and carrots. Not because doing those were such joyous activities. She was just still overwhelmed by her encounter with Rosalie that day. They promised to meet again the next day, and Yui could hardly wait for the sun to set and rise again.

"I am going!"  
Mireille looked up from her laptop, fully amazed. "Again? You will stuff the refrigerator with foods we won't eat anyway!"  
But Yui was already gone.  
Mireille sighed meaningfully. She wasn't used to stay alone in the apartment. Mireille used to leave Kirika or Yui in the apartment to go on a lonesome walk or mission or shopping or business, and not the opposite. Whenever she was home, there was always someone who was at home waiting for her.  
Mireille smiled. She remembered Kirika's wide smile whenever she welcomed Mireille back home. Kirika used to say "Welcome home," gently with a look that tell Mireille that she was really glad to have Mireille home.  
The same with Yui, actually. Only that Yui lacked Kirika's gentleness. Yui used to shout a "Welcome back!" on top of her lungs and Mireille was reminded of a puppy which leaped at its owner whenever the latter showed up.

Mireille stretched her body.  
To have someone at home was a wonderful thing, she whispered to herself. Mireille didn't exactly remember when she stopped missing the presence of people around her. Was it after Uncle Claude leaved her?  
_No, not really. I remember being scared and lonely all the time afterwards. I kept sending letters… after two months I received no more letters from him. And then I myself stopped keeping in touch with him. We went our own way. And met again after many years. He wanted to kill Kirika…_

* * *

"Thanks for the walk today. It is so much fun!"  
Rosalie grinned. "I know the best places here in town. Since you are new here, I will walk you anywhere you want to go."  
"Really? Aww thanks! I really appreciate this."

RINGGG RINGGG

"Huh?"  
"Sorry my hand phone," Rosalie said apologizingly.  
The blond girl took her hand phone out of her handbag hurrily and stepped aside so that Yui couldn't hear their conversation.  
"What is it?" she whispered in hurry.  
Yui wasn't able to catch any words but she noticed how Rosalie's expression changed drastically.

After a minute Rosalie was back again, with a usual smile on her face.  
"Sorry, it was my family. They were… um.. a bit worried, I guess." the girl said, putting a strand behind her ear.  
Yui wasn't sure why, but it looked like Rosalie's hiding something from her.

"Well, shall we go on?"  
"Huh? Oh sure!" answered Yui hastily.

"Do you live alone?" asked Rosalie, as they were walking down the busy street full of shops and buildings.  
"No, I don't," answer Yui. "I live with.."  
Yui made a pause and hesitated. _What should I answer? I live with an assassin? Or that we are a group of assassin? Or a simple woman? But then she will ask where we live. She will ask Mireille's name. And we are supposed to keep our identities hidden right… what? What should I answer?_

"Yu-i?" Rosalie teetered to the front and back. "Am I asking too much?"  
Yui sweatdropped. "Ah, no, of course not! I am just… uh.. out of words… I don't mean… I.."  
_Think fast Yui! Think fast! You may not appear suspicious!  
_"Well if you don't want to answer.."  
_First name! It is only the first name! I am sure there are many people with the name "Mireille"!  
_"It is okay Yui…"  
"Mireille! I live with Mireille!"

Yui laughed nervously. Rosalie gaped at her, shocked by Yui's sudden scream.  
"Mireille? Your.. um, sister?" she began again after recovering.

Yui made a pause again. _No way she is my sister! We are like sun and moon!  
_"Oh no! Mireille is my… my… uh… friend! Yes that's true! She is my friend, hahahaha!" laughed Yui hysterically.  
"Ah, I see." Rosalie didn't ask furthermore, to Yui's biggest relief.

_Lying is so difficult…_ said Yui to herself after they changed the topic.

RIIING

RIIING

Mireille poked her head out of the kitchen. Somebody was calling. Who..?

She picked up the phone cautiously.  
"Yes..?"

"Mireille? It is Mireille right?" came an eager answer from the other side.  
Mireille didn't recognize the voice at all, until the owner introduced himself.  
"This is Bill. The doctor. This is the first time I call I guess."  
Mireille's face brightened up.  
"Bill! Oh, how can I help you? Is something terrible happening?"

Bill was calling from a phone booth, and he peeked occasionally out of the booth to see Yui and Rosalie, who were chatting friendly about 5 meters away from him.  
"Well Mireille…. we didn't finish our conversation last time, but Kirika… Kirika is now here, out here."  
Mireille's eyes widened upon hearing Kirika's name. Kirika? Her Kirika?  
"I am glad that she already recovers by now, but…"  
Then Mireille understood. It was Yui Bill was talking about.  
"Bill, she isn't Kirika. The girl's name is Yui. But what's with her actually?"  
"She is all right… but… if I recall your way of living, then you don't usually take a walk around here with someone right? I mean, a real lively chat or date with someone. I don't mean to interfere, but I think you need to know about this. Ki.. no Yui is out here with someone.. a very beautiful blond girl. You know the best what to do, though. I am just informing you."

Mireille put down the phone after saying thank you to Bill. Somehow she felt so stupid because for a split of second she eventually believed that Kirika was out there waiting for her to pick her up. It was stupid, but for Mireille, Kirika never really died. She was just… gone. Somewhere.  
And Yui… Yui!  
Yui had been wandering around the town without telling her anything. Mireille couldn't help to be worried. But what else could she do but wait? Even if she found Yui out there it was improper to drag her back to the apartment forcefully. So Mireille could only wait. And wait.

So she went to the kitchen and mixed herself a drink out of Whisky and Bourbon.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note : Finally, finally chapter 13 is up X(...**

* * *

Yui came home with a bright, toothy smile on her face. For the first time since she arrived in Paris she had a feeling that she slowly returned to the way she used to be. A normal, cheerful, happy girl with friends and not a gun assassin.

And yet as she looked into Mireille's eyes that evening she knew that her new way of living was going to be crumbled into dust soon.

"Yui. Come in, I need to talk." said Mireille short and sharp, heading to the living room.  
Yui gulped. She striped her shoes off her feet and walked cautiously toward the billard table where Mireille was waiting for her.

"You have been meeting a certain girl these days right?" asked Mireille. Iciness was to be sensed in her voice.  
Yui nodded. She knew that sooner or later Mireille would find it out. Now she would have to listen to a long lecture about confidentiality and discretion concerning the job as assassins. But Mireille didn't have much to say.

"Never meet her again."

That's all.

"But.."  
"No buts. Just stop meeting her." Mireille cut her words and turned on her laptop.  
Yui clenched her fists. This was unacceptable. Why couldn't Mireille once listen to her before making a decision?  
"But she is a normal girl!" shouted Yui. Mireille was pretty much astounded by this reaction. Yui was scowling at her again.  
"I finally find a friend! She is an innocent girl, I don't want to break my friendship with her!" she yelled stubbornly.

Mireille stood up.  
"It looks like you are pretty close to her already, huh? You didn't even bother to tell me any word about it. I just hope you are sane enough not to tell her about our identities."  
"So what if I didn't tell you?" exclaimed Yui. "You didn't tell me any word about Kirika as well!"

With those words Yui ran out of the apartment and slammed the door behind her.  
Mireille's knees felt wobbly and she plumped to the chair. It was actually the first time she heard Kirika's name coming out of Yui's mouth. She never thought that Yui actually made a lot of thoughts about Kirika. Yui actually knew that Kirika was…

…_that Kirika was the one I loved…._

Yui ran out to the street. She was shattered inside. She didn't mean to mention Kirika in front of Mireille but she had been thinking about their relationship for ages. If Mireille had Kirika in her mind, why did Yui have to bear with Mireille alone? Yui wanted to have someone other than Mireille. Someone who didn't conceal a secret love to a lover from past time.  
And if she came to meet Rosalie, what's wrong in it? It was her luck. It was her chance. If Yui had to bear with Mireille having another one in her heart, then Mireille just had to bear with Yui having another one in her heart as well.  
Mireille had no right to forbid Yui to have new friends. Not at all.

After running a few blocks she arrived at the place she met Rosalie for the first time. Yui panted heavily. She had just had a fight with Mireille. Never before was Mireille that harsh on her. Mireille said that she would be there for Yui.

"_All I can promise you is that you are not alone! I will always be there for you!"  
_

Liar. Yui cried bitterly. Mireille was a liar. She only cared about Kirika and herself. Yui was just a big burden. Mireille never saw Yui as someone lovable. Perhaps the reason why Mireille wanted them to live together was because she needed a partner in her business.  
Yui knew that such thoughts would only torture her but they kept coming into her mind. She wished she had never found out that with Kirika. She wished she had never touched the laptop. It was all a sequence of mistakes. Yui never felt this horrible in her whole life.

"Yui..?"  
Yui turned to the voice owner with tear-stained face. Rosalie was standing there, looking pretty astonished to find the girl in such a pitiful condition.  
"Rosalie..!"  
Yui ran toward Rosalie. The blond girl hugged her and kept saying that everything's allright but Yui's world was turned upside down now and she saw no possibility to get things back to normal.

Mireille couldn't believe that this actually happened. She only wanted to tell Yui to stop any contact to her new friend, but Yui reacted hysterically to her words and she even mentioned Kirika in her fight. Kirika didn't react that way. She never did.

As Mireille ran out of the apartment fifteen minutes later to catch up to Yui, Yui was already out of sight.  
And now it was already midnight and Yui was nowhere to be seen.

She was dealing with a runaway case. She couldn't even contact the police department. Mireille was helpless.  
She just called her few friends to help her find Yui. They all promised to give her a call whenever they saw a girl who resembled Kirika on the street.

Mireille could only wait now. And hope that the next time she saw Yui it wouldn't be her corpse lying in some deserted alley.

RIIIING

Mireille's heart made a jump.  
She stared at the ringing phone. Who, who is calling?

"Mireille..? Did you call me an hour ago?"  
Mireille was relieved to hear Bill's voice at the other end of the phone.  
"Bill. Finally. I am sorry, but can you tell me anything about the girl Yui was with?"  
Bill hesitated for a while.  
"She was a very beautiful blond girl.. er…. oh yeah I caught a photo of them with my hand phone. You want to see it?"  
"But.. of course!" said Mireille eagerly. "Can you send me an email with the photo attached?"

The photo showed Yui with her back to the camera and a nice shoot of her new friend--_an indeed very pretty girl_, Mireille said to herself as she saw the photo.  
She didn't necessarily see a danger potential in that girl, but it was wise to be alert all time.  
Since Yui knew no one else in the city, it was predictable that she went to see the girl—by chance or not. So if Mireille found out who the girl was and where she lived, she might be able to pick Yui up. Forcefully or not.

* * *

"I understand. Okay." 

Yui drank her tea sobbingly. Her tears were still running down her face and she knew she looked terrible.  
Rosalie took her back to her home. A small palace rather than a normal house. Strangely enough, the beautiful house didn't look as if someone's living in it or at least taking care of it. It was pretty dusty and Rosalie had to clean up a bit before they had their tea.

As Yui had her tea now, Rosalie received a call from someone again. Her family member, Yui supposed. Perhaps they were worried about Rosalie because, as Rosalie told her, her whole family was going on a holiday to some tropical islands and she was left alone.

"Yes. I know."

But it looked like Rosalie didn't exactly have a warm relationship with her family. She looked so tense and serious while speaking with them. Yui couldn't imagine how such things happened. She had always had nice chats with her mom and dad.

Rosalie hung up with a sigh. But then she got back to Yui with a usual bright smile on her face.  
"Sorry, it was.."  
"Your family? It's allright."  
Rosalie smiled. "How are you feeling?"  
"Me? Uh.. fine… I guess. Nice tea. It has a very different taste."  
Rosalie played with her fingers nervously. Yuinoticed that she might be in troubles. Otherwise she wouldn't look so worried.  
"Rosalie, is there anything I can help?" Yui asked worriedly.  
Rosalie shook her head.  
"Nothing. I am waiting."  
"Waiting for..?"  
But Yui didn't finish her words. Her body felt numb all of a sudden and her head hit the table.

"For that to happen," said Rosalie, standing up from her seat.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's note : Ah finally, the 14th chapter XD. I have finally passed my exam, although three more exams are waiting, argh!**

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Yui didn't know exactly what happened to her body. For a split of second she thought she was going to faint, but she didn't. Except for her numb body who wouldn't move at all, she could still sense things around her pretty well.

Rosalie appeared in her sight range and cowered in front of her.

"It will last for some time, so you should better save your energy," whispered the blond girl.  
Yui's eyes widened in fear….

_**The Death Angel "Rosalie"**_

_As beautiful as flourishing rose,  
As refreshing as the morning dew,  
The Angel from the Death Valley arose,  
The Innocent toward the light to show._

Mireille's heart stopped beating for a second.  
She had ever heard about "The Death Angel Rosalie" many times. It was rumoured that there was an assassin family which already lasted for hundred of years. Basically only one person in each generation worked as an assassin. It was always a young girl aging between 14 to 18. After the girl went past the age, she gave the position to the younger girl in the family.  
Their working method was well-known. At first they approached their victims and became their best friends. Then in one occasion they would take the victims somewhere remoted and killed the victims there using poisons.

Mireille read through the article on her laptop screen many times. She had no idea where to find Yui. She really didn't. And it had been quite a long time now since Yui left, and she might be dropping dead somewhere.  
Mireille was scared. She was scared for Yui's life. This time, she might not be able to help her. Yui was going to die after all. This thought drove Mireille crazy but she couldn't stop thinking about it.

RIIIIING

Mireille jumped from her seat and stared at the phone suspiciously.

Another call. At this critical time.

Mireille's hand trembled as she answered.

"Yes?"

"Long time no hear, Mireille…"

* * *

"Why..?" asked Yui, trying her best to breath regularly. "Why do you do this?"  
Rosalie looked at Yui sadly.

"Apparently I am here to kill you." she answered.

Yui was so much hurt inside. Not only that Rosalie manipulated her in her weakest condition, she also didn't seem to care about her feelings. She didn't show any regret.  
"Then… is it all… a lie?" she breathed heavily. "We are not friends?"

Rosalie took out a dagger and let her hand wander over the surface.  
"I have never had any friends.. Yui. The Death Angel never has any friend."

Yui had no idea what Rosalie was talking about, but it looked like she was serious. Yui was going to die today, in this place, alone. Mireille wasn't around. No….  
Tears came flooding her eyes. Yui had always been careless about her own life. She didn't listen to Mireille as she forbade her any contact with Rosalie. Yui even had a fight with Mireille. At the end Mireille was right. Rosalie was dangerous. And now she was going to die. After Mireille saved her many times, she was going to die now. All of Mireille's efforts would be in vain.

Yui gritted her teeth. That's not true, she said to herself. She wasn't dead yet, and things could still change. It was time for her to fight for her own life. She needed to survive. She had to meet Mireille again to apologize. She had to.

"Are you suffering Yui?" asked Rosalie, coming nearer with the dagger in her hand. "Do you want me to relieve your pain?"  
Yui kept her mouth closed and concentrate on moving her body. She had to try it. At least a hand. So she could hold a gun. The gun was inside her pocket.

Rosalie played with her dagger.

Yui didn't know what she was waiting for, but Yui had no intention to ask her to rush. The more time Rosalie gave her the better for her.  
Rosalie watched her sharply and held the dagger firmly in her hand. She looked at her wristwatch nervously. The time would come soon.  
And suddenly something hot striped her cheek. Rosalie gave a short scream and held her cheek. It bleeded.

Yui hold a gun in one hand, and she was trying her best to sit upright on her chair.  
"Don't come nearer or I'll shoot!" yelled Yui. "This time I won't miss."

The two girls stared at each other. Both of them observed each other as if trying to read the other's mind.

"The poison's effect is fading.. You don't look good," said Rosalie. "Why don't you just relax?"  
"Yeah, so that you can kill me. But before that happen, I will kill you first." growled Yui.

Rosalie stretched out her arms. "Do you want to kill me, Yui?"  
"I thought we are friends."

Yui gaped at the girl standing before her. "What are you talking about? You are the one who wants to kill me first!"  
"Yes but I don't kill you, do I?"

Yui didn't know where the headache came from, the poison or Rosalie's words.

"What… what do you want actually?" Yui asked weakly.

"I want my freedom." Rosalie stated. "There is an old rule in my family. If the responsible Death Angel fails in a mission and yet stays alive, she will be banned from the family forever."  
"So I will let you live and fail my mission. This way, I'll gain my freedom."

"You can as well die here!" yelled Yui angrily.

Rosalie smiled. "Better than to abide to the family my whole life long…"

Rosalie frowned and turned to the old door connecting the tea room and the living room. Yui was wondering what kind of trick Rosalie was playing on her but then she heard it as well.

_Yui..!_

_Yui...!_

_Yui are you there!_

"Mi…" Yui held her throat. She couldn't scream. She couldn't answer Mireille!

Rosalie smiled. "Help is coming," she said while slipping the dagger back into her coat.  
"I will be going then."

Yui tightened her grip on her gun and followed Rosalie's movement. "I can kill you now."

Rosalie opened the window calmly before she turned and smiled at Yui. "You can't do it. But if you want to, just do it."

"Wait!" shouted Yui. "Who hired you to kill me? Is it… Henry Chestley?"

Rosalie's eyes narrowed. "Who is it?"

Yui gaped at the blond girl.

"Apparently you are more popular than I know you are. By this time anyway, your assassin friend might know something about it already.  
So… take care Yui. Thanks for your trusting and honest friendship, although I am the one who breaks it at the end."

And with those words Rosalie jumped from the window and landed smoothly on the bushes.

Yui stared at the window sill in awe. She actually survived the whole thing. She could meet Mireille again to say sorry.  
And there Mireille was, coming from the door..

"Yui!"

"Yui are you all right? Talk to me! Yui!"

Mireille's face and voice faded away slowly. Soon afterwards Yui remember nothing anymore.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note : Er... this chapter may appear unexpected and too early, but I believe you will love it. I love this one chapter so much. Ah yes, I won't update again until next month. Need to write two more exams :) **

* * *

"Kirika..?"  
The black-haired girl jerked a bit. She then turned from the window and saw her deep in her eyes.  
"Good morning, Mireille…" she greeted Mireille with a soft smile on her face.

Mireille rubbed her forehead and looked around. It was still dark outside the window. The clock on the table blinked and showed the current time : 04.51 AM.

"Are you feeling all right, Kirika? I would rather have you sleep some more, though…"

Kirika ignored Mireille and stared at the dark sky.

Mireille sighed innerly. Since they got back from Japan Kirika had been acting weird. She fell deep in her thoughts and ignore things around her, except Mireille of course.  
But it was clear to Mireille that something was bothering Kirika. Mireille asked many times. She used many ways to express her curiosity and her care for Kirika. On the other side, Kirika only smiled and the conversation was over.

Kirika glanced at the table nervously. It was good that Mireille decided to have some more sleep. Kirika never thought that Mireille would actually be awake so early in the morning. That's why she didn't hide the papers right after she worked on them.

After making sure that Mireille was asleep again, Kirika walked to the table and tidied up her stuff. She picked up a sheet of blank paper and looked at it dreamily.  
She didn't have much time. The three months was nearly over, so she had to be hurry.  
Without even talking about it, Kirika knew that Mireille also counted the days the way she did. Mireille didn't mark the calendar but she stopped by it everytime she walked by.  
Kirika also did the same. They just didn't talk about it.

Kirika picked up a pen and began writing. At first hesitatingly, but then she wrote quicklier and quicklier. Finally the letter was finished. Kirika folded the letter neatly and paused. Should she just destroy the letter and pretend not to know anything? After all, she did have amnesia, and no one but her could tell whether she remembered one thing or not. Not even Mireille.

She was tempted to tear off the letter. She didn't have to do this. It was no longer her obligation. She was dying! She wasn't supposed to think about others but herself at this time.

_But…_

Kirika sighed. She put the letter into an envelope and sealed it.

As Mireille woke up at 8.00 AM, Kirika was already back asleep in the bed beside her. Mireille was relieved. She wanted Kirika to care for herself at least in these remaining days. Remaining days…  
It would happen this month. Mireille could feel how tears collected themselves in her eyes. As soon as this month began, both she and Kirika had been tense. Not that Kirika had been healthy ever since….  
They visited the hospital many times, and Kirika needed to stay there many times. She insisted to go back home after one or two days though. Neither the doctors nor Mireille objected to it. Kirika only had a few days more to live…

Mireille had been crying secretly all the time, especially since the month began. She knew crying wouldn't help. If it did, no one would die from a cancer.  
None of her family members died of diseases. They were all killed by someone. That's why Mireille was used to the thought that as long as she protected the people she loved, they wouldn't die. And now something evil was taking Kirika away from her, using such a dirty way. For the first time in her life, Mireille saw that her hands were empty. She could no nothing to save the person she loved the most. This tortured her the most.

"Mmm…"

Mireille jerked up and wiped the tears in her eyes.  
Kirika rolled on the bed and faced Mireille. It pained her as well to see Mireille like this. She knew she would die someday, and she didn't care much about dying until she met Mireille. Kirika wanted to live for Mireille's sake. If one died, it was always the people left who were suffering the most.  
Worrisome pictures filled Kirika's brain. What would happen to Mireille once she died?

Kirika got up and hugged her partner. The woman she loved so much.  
Again, Mireille wanted to cry. This might be the last embrace she got from Kirika. She couldn't help feeling so sad upon it.  
They didn't want to talk about the death.. They didn't want to say goodbye. Because if they did, then everything was over. Somehow, although it was so impossible, both of them hoped for a miracle. Weren't there a lot of miracles happening in medicinal cases? Why couldn't one happen to Kirika?

They wanted to talk about other things to in order to forget Kirika's cancer for a while, but they couldn't think of other things. And so they just hugged each other in silence for quite a long time, before Kirika loosened her arms and went to the kitchen to make some morning tea.

They ate breakfast in a strange atmosphere. Mireille stared at her pancakes and ate one piece after the other, and it seemed that she wouldn't be finished until midday. Kirika wondered how come she could still be hungry. She was in the fact very hungry. Now she was chewing some grapes as dessert.  
Kirika peered at Mireille. People could tell that she was the one who was going to die in several days.

Since they both had no intention to talk about her death, Kirika had to write her last words, instead of saying her last words. Another letter to go…. talking about letter!  
Kirika squinted at her bag. She stuffed the letter inside before she went to bed. She would like to post it as soon as possible. Where was the nearest mail box?

_Ah yes…_

"Mireille,"

Mireille looked up, her gloomy expression disappeared, revealing a worried face.

"I want to go shopping. Will you accompany me?"  
Kirika knew the answer already. Mireille didn't let her go alone ever since she got kidnapped in the airport.  
"Of course! Where are we going?"

It was difficult for Kirika to slip the letter into the mail box. Mireille insisted to follow her everywhere she wanted to go. But exactly that was why Kirika said they went shopping. Shopping had always been Mireille's hobby. At least she would be bothered by all the beautiful things for three seconds, and Kirika could run to the mail box to throw her letter inside.  
She did that as planned.  
Kirika heard the sound of the letter hitting the bottom of the box and smiled contentedly. Finally. Then she went back to the place where she stood before. Just in time as Mireille turned to look for her.

_Only one more letter to go…_ thought Kirika along the way. _The most important letter… I still have to write..  
__I want to say it myself but I don't want us to cry together. I want us to spend the last days without any tears. So it won't be a hurtful memory…._

Kirika held Mireille's hand. The blond woman held Kirika's hand back tightly.

It was midnight, and Mireille was asleep.  
Kirika got off the bed and walked toward the table and picked up some blank papers.  
The only light came from the laptop. Kirika frowned.  
Mireille forgot to turn off the laptop. How rare.  
Kirika had never looked inside the laptop. Her curiosity overwhelmed her and she decided that she could make a short investigation firstly.

Kirika opened the windows explorer and she spotted a directory whose name wasn't really original. "Kirika". There was only a file inside. Kirika's first mail.  
Kirika opened the mail and kept playing the music many times using an earpiece in order not to wake Mireille up.

Nostalgic pictures came into her head and she enjoyed travelling to the past. To the times in which she was still at her best health, feeling like she and Mireille can conquer the world.

An idea came into her mind.  
Editing her first mail, she erased the previous message and added the new message. The format wasn't changed. Kirika loved the music, because it brought her to Mireille.  
She read and re-read her mail many times. It took her two hours to be finished with the mail.  
Kirika closed the mail and put it into the directory. But then she hesitated. Would Mireille eventually see into the directory after she died? What, if she decided to erase the whole directory without even looking what's inside the directory?  
Then she put the mail on the desktop. After all, Mireille had a lot of icons on her desktop. She wouldn't erase all of them right? She would surely read Kirika's letter. Kirika was sure about that.

It was three days before Kirika became so weak that she could only lied on the bed. About seven days later, she closed her eyes forever...


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's note : Sorryy I am being lazy to update these days. But I ensure you that I will update as soon as I am finished with a chapter : )**

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It was pure darkness.

Yui couldn't see anything before her. She swung her arms as if to drive the darkness away but it was in vain.  
And then someone showed up.

A girl with black hair. She turned at Yui. Yui gasped. It was her face! It was herself!

The girl turned away from her and smiled softly at a blond woman. Mirielle!  
Mirielle smiled back and both of them went away hand in hand.

"NOOOOOOO…..!"

Mirielle nearly had a heart attack as Yui suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Yu.. Yui? Calm down, it is okay." she tried to calm the girl down.  
Yui gaped at the blond woman, trying to remember what happened.

_Rosalie!  
_  
The memories about the girl came flooding her mind. That's true……. Rosalie…. poisoned her and then escaped.  
Mirielle…. she also had a fight with Mirielle, but Mireille came to save her. Yui let go of Mireille's hand quickly.

The japanese girl rubbed her forehead. She didn't know what to say. Should she apologize first? Should she explain the matter first? Will things ever go back to normal?  
And what a strange dream…. was that a good sign for her and Mireille's relationship?  
Yui trembled all over her body. She felt sick although she wasn't sick. Cold sweats ran down her spine. She pulled her feet up to her chest and curled like an egg.

"Yui.."  
Yui jerked as Mireille touched her shoulder.  
The blond woman was confused. It seemed that Yui was now back to be the scared little kitten she picked up half a year ago. Deep inside Mireille muttered a curse. _Why did this have to happen? She only wanted to live happily………… She only wanted a friend in this town, and her first friend betrayed her that far………._

And yet……..  
Mireille had to force herself to be a beast.  
Mireille grabbed Yui's arms and pulled her off the bed.  
"I am sorry Yui, there is no time to be down this time. Not now. We have to leave."

Yui stared at Mireille blankly.

_Have I hurt Mireille so much? Does she hate me now?_

"Go change your clothes, now." ordered Mireille, pointing at clean clothes at the end of the bed. "We are going to leave right away."

Just after she changed did Yui realize that Mireille was equipped as if she was going to go to a battle. Yui didn't understand it. Did someone want to kill her again? If she would end up being killed anyway, why didn't Mireille just let her die? Then no one had to suffer again…

Yui looked around and saw her gun lying on the table. She got up from the bed and walked slowly toward the table. Then she picked up the gun.  
Mireille didn't even see her walking toward her gun because she was packing the luggages.  
Yui put the gun at the side of her head and closed her eyes.

_Goodbye Mireille…. thanks for everything… I won't be a burden for you anymore…_

Then she pulled the trigger.

And waited.

And waited.

But nothing happened. Yui opened her eyes and checked the bullets. There were none.  
Yui gasped and let her gun fall to the floor. What.. what was she going to do just now? She was… she was actually trying to kill herself! Mireille had saved her life many times while risking her own life and Yui was about to kill herself!

Yui trembled. She was scared. She was scared of herself. It turned out that the most despicable person she could think about was herself. She was so selfish. She was so ungrateful.

Mireille turned at Yui and saw her kneeling at the floor, next to her gun.

Oh my God, poor thing. She is getting another shock now because the gun is empty. I am sure she is imagining herself back to the time she has to protect herself against Rosalie. I am the fool. I had to load the gun……………

Mireille walked to Yui and patted her shoulder. "It is okay," she said.  
She picked up the gun from the floor and loaded it. Then she handed the gun to Yui. "It is okay now."

Yui was full of tears but she couldn't help gaping at Mireille's back afterwards.  
_Is she encouraging me to kill myself?_

* * *

One hour later both of them were sitting in a desert car, aiming to a place Yui didn't have any clue about, and Mireille didn't wanna talk about. Yui noticed that Mireille's face became tenser and tenser with the time. Yui asked herself why. Where were they going anyway? Another mission? Mireille sure knew how to make money.

They stopped at an inn and slept there overnight. For the first time in their life they slept at separated beds. Mireille didn't seem to bother since she fell asleep right away---or rather because she was too tired to think about it---but Yui could not sleep at all until 3 AM or so. Then she fell asleep while watching Mireille's back.

If Yui didn't remember how early they went to sleep the previous day, although she didn't sleep at all until 7 hours later, she would call Mireille merciless.

Mireille woke her up at 5 AM, and Yui could hardly open her eyes. Mireille took it as sign that Yui was still under shock though, and pulled her to the car and continued their trip.  
She did ask herself if Yui didn't sleep at all the night before as Yui fell asleep in the car. Well she wasn't the one driving so it might be okay.

Mireille concentrated on the road.

It had been a long time since she last hit this road. Last time she hit the road, she was on her way back to Paris. with Kirika sleeping beside her, just like… Yui.  
Now she was coming back again. She didn't know why. She just had to.

They arrived as the sun nearly set completely behind the horizon. Mireille got off the car and woke Yui up. After sleeping all the time during the trip Yui looked more or less healthier than before.  
Mireille took Yui's arm and they went toward a place Yui would describe as ruins. It might be a very beautiful palace about thousand years ago, but now it was only about the half there.

And then Yui noticed someone's presence. Automatically she pulled her gun and pointed it toward the person. Mireille's hand shot out and blocked her shot range.  
"It is okay," she said.  
Yui put her gun down.

The person came nearer and finally Yui could see the whole of her. It was a middle-aged, blond woman, who definitely had charisma shining out of her, thought Yui.

"Welcome, Mireille… and…" she smiled at Yui softly and made her blush. "Miss Yui Sanders. I have been waiting for both of you."


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note : Finally I can upload :-) But I fail to draw the lines while editing :-(. Anyway, this chapter reveals the most mysteries... We are pretty close to the end of the story...**

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Once again, Mireille found herself in the Manor. It hurt her deeply to recall that she was the only one living of all three Noir candidates now.

Marie poured her some tea and pushed the cup toward her.

"This place looks…" began Mireille, but she didn't end her sentence.  
"…deserted? That's true. It had been quite a long time isn't it Mireille?"

Mireille nodded hesitatingly. "How should I address you?"

Marie put down the tea pot and smiled at Mireille. "Just call me Marie. I don't think "Aunt" suits me. I also don't think that you are ready to acknowledge me as well." Marie added as she saw Mireille's face expression.  
"You have never spent a thought on it, am I right?"

Mireille stared at her tea. She never expected to have this conversation on the first place.  
"Actually, I never thought that we would meet again," she said slowly.  
Mireille looked deep into Marie's eyes. "I thought it was our last meeting, two years ago. Eversince Kirika and I leave this place, I never plan to return."

Marie bowed her head and smiled. "I see."

"But… anyway I have to thank you. Thank you for helping me to find Yui. Without your information, I couldn't possibly track her down to the remoted villa. Thank you."  
"It is okay."  
"And now, I need to know what the connection between Soldats and Yui is. Does she also belong to Soldats?"  
Mireille's heart thumped along with the time. The easiest answer to all of these riddles and happenings was that Yui was related to the Soldats. Of course. Everyone related to Soldats got entangled in mysterious, strange incidents. And they all came to Mireille. Great. Wonderful.

"Not exactly. To tell the truth, the fact that she is unrelated to the Soldats is related to the Soldats."

Mireille gaped at Marie. Was the woman trying to make fun out of her?

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Yui had always thought that Mireille excluded her from her life. As a normal assassin in a town called Paris. But how come it now looked as if she was also part of some catholic parish? It looked like Mireille hid more secrets than Yui could ever think of. And now that they both arrived at this strange place, Mireille went away with the older woman and she, Yui, was told to wait there alone. In a big hall.

Yui felt so alone. She took a seat on a broken pillar. This place was such a messy place in her eyes.

"Hey, hallo!"  
Yui jumped off the pillar and looked around frantically. It was a red haired girl who was beaming at her right now.

"You are back! And you look good!"  
Yui was speechless. Did she know this girl? When and where?

"It looks like you are able to survive. I am glad for you. But how come you are here now? Will Noir be revived?"  
Yui nodded.

"Really?"  
Yui shook her head crazily. "Uh, of course not!"

"Oh.." muttered the girl disappointedly. "Life here had been boring ever since. Soon….. there will be no High Priestess anymore. That means, no more Noir."  
Yui listened to the girl but she had no idea what the girl was talking about. What the heck is Noir?  
"But you have your life. I envy you. You have someone who loves you so much. It must be happiness for you."  
Yui nodded hesitatingly. This girl mistook her with someone else. Apparently someone who must be very alike to her. But who?

"Ooops… I am a being too chatty. I need to move on. Hope you will stay longer?"  
"Uh, yes… eventually… I suppose."  
"Well bye then, see you."  
"See you, ehm…"  
The red haired girl widened her eyes.  
"Oh yes you didn't know my name yet. I am Sarah. Back then you were to scary to speak to, ahahahaha."  
The girl waved at her.  
Yui waved back.  
_Scary? Me?_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"It is no coincidence that Ms. Kirika Yuumura as we knew her and Ms. Yui Sanders look alike."  
Mireille leaned on her seat.  
_Now comes the truth.  
_"They are twins. But…"  
"No, they aren't twins."

Mireille rubbed her forehead.  
"They are sisters. _Half-_sisters."

Mireille gloated at Marie. It was not that Kirika ever told her that she was a single child or what, but she never assumed that Kirika came from a large family as well. And _Half_-sisters?

"So Yui belongs to Soldats after all."  
"She did. Now not anymore. Look," she added as Mireille started rubbing her head again.  
"Kirika Yuumura and her mother didn't belong to Soldats from the very beginning. Her mother got connected to Soldats through her second marriage to a member of Soldats."  
Mireille tried her best to make a rhyme out of the informations.  
"From her second marriage she got her second daughter. The girl you now know as Yui Sanders."

"Kirika once said that she resembled her mother very much…" said Mireille slowly.  
"Correct. It is sheer a miracle that both daughters inherit the same appearance as the mother."

"Kirika.. never told me anything about her sister. Or half-sisters." added Mireille.

"I can say nothing to that. The fact is that she does have a half sister.  
And the one Altena wanted as candidate of Noir wasn't really Kirika Yuumura, since she didn't have Soldats' blood flowing in her veins. It was Yui Sanders."  
"So how come Kirika…"  
"Well…. you know the men in Soldats already, don't you? Especially the High Council members. They are ready to die for Soldats, but they want their family to be the least connected to Soldats. So as one of them got the order to give a daughter away to be Noir candidate, of course it wasn't the own daughter which came into considerance."

"Instead of Yui Sanders, the couple gave Kirika Yuumura away."

"And Kirika's mother.. agreed?"  
Marie shook her head. "No. She didn't. It was Kirika Yuumura herself who then volunteer to go in place of her sister."

"Why?"  
"For her mother's sake. For her mother's happiness."

Mireille buried her face in her palms. _Typical Kirika huh? Stupid girl….  
She gave up her future for a great deal of hell. She really was a stupid girl… But that's why I love her so much…._


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note : Kinda in mood to update :P. This one is another side-story. I believe you still want to read about Kirika? Lol.**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_Mommy cried a lot recently…….._

The little girl with short, black hair stood among the crowd. An older woman held her hand.

_Mommy won't tell why she cried so much…. Perhaps because Daddy suddenly went away?_

"…-chan, come here."

Her mother reached after the little girl and held her tightly.  
"Say goodbye to Daddy…"

The little girl stared at a photo frame with black ribbons. It was her father's picture. Why was she supposed to say goodbye? She really didn't understand.  
Her mother bowed her head. She bowed as well.

Ever since that day, the little girl lived with her mother and her grandmother together. Her father never came back.  
One day someone came. She was playing in the garden, and then she saw the man coming inside the house.

"Grandma," she called. "Who is the uncle?"  
Her grandma didn't answer quickly. She gulped and patted her head softly. And kept her away from the house until the man got out again.  
The little girl didn't understand anything. But her mother looked somehow a bit more cheerful.

Time passed quickly, and suddenly there was a marriage. The little girl didn't even know what marriage was. But her mother looked very happy. Because this occasion made her mother happy, the little girl was happy as well.

Ever since then, the man lived with them together. The uncle wasn't friendly to the little girl. The little girl asked herself why. The uncle didn't mistreat her but there was something in his eyes that showed his dislike for the little girl. But her mother was still beaming for happiness. And that was enough for the little girl.

Soon afterwards her grandma deceased. The little girl found herself in another funeral. This time she was big enough to understand what was going on. Her grandma would never return again, just like her father never did. And the uncle was her step father. Her new father.

One day her mother came to her with such a bright face.  
"…-chan, you will be a big sister soon!"  
Her mother was pouring her happiness all over the little girl. The little girl had been single child all the time so she thought it might be fun to have a sibling. And since her mother looked so happy, she was happy as well.  
That day, they danced together until late at night.

The baby was born in the next year. The little girl felt a bit excluded as people went around taking care of the newborn only, but then her mother noticed her and winked her to greet her new sister. The little girl rushed to her mother's side. Her mother held a baby girl, and introduced her as her little sister.

Life wasn't always great since the little sister was born, the little girl thought. But her mother still loved her so much. Only that now there was someone else who enjoyed the same affection like she did.  
Then the day full of fates came to break the peaceful times.  
"What..!"  
The vase broke.  
The little girl came hurrying to the living room. Her mother was gaping at her husband—her step father.  
"How could you!" she screamed angrily.  
The little girl hid herself behind the door. Her mother looked so messed up. Why? She had always been happy until now. What might happen?  
"I won't give her away!"  
"So you would rather give away our baby? She is only 3 months old!"  
"What about…..! She is my daughter as well!"  
The little girl shivered. Mommy mentioned her name. They were planning to give her away.

Her mother bursted into tears. She dropped herself to the floor.  
The uncle went away.  
But the little girl still couldn't make herself move. She was so scared. She was so scared about what they might do with her. Why did they want to give her away?  
Then her mother noticed her.  
"….-chan…"  
The little girl stood up and ran to her mother's arms.  
"Mommy I don't wanna go..!" she whined. "I wanna stay with Mommy!"  
Her mother held her tightly. "No way I will give you away… no way!"

That night, she slept with her mother. She had a nightmare. In the nightmare her mother gave her away. Then suddenly her mother woke her up at midnight.  
She asked her daughter to keep quiet. "We are leaving, my sweetheart… don't make any noise."  
Her mother held her hands. She was shivering. She was scared. Both of them were.  
They tiptoed across the garden toward the gate. They were so close. They thought they were free. But outside the mansion guards had been waiting for them. Their plan to run away failed.

Both of them were kept like prisoners in their own house.  
The uncle tried his best to persuade her mother to give her away. Her mother refused. And refused. And refused again.

At a very rare chance as her mother left her side, uncle came to talk to her. Uncle never talked to her before.

"….-chan," he whispered softly. "Perhaps you will think that I am cruel. Think all you want about me, but I am suggesting you the best solution to this situation."

"My friends want me to give away one of my children. If I do, then we, your mother and I, will live happily forever. Our life will be assured.  
Yui-chan is still a baby. You are a big girl now. I am sure you can handle this.  
How is it? Will you sacrifice yourself so that your mother can be happy? If you go, then I promise you, she will never, never shed a tear ever again."

The little girl recalled her mother's happy faces. Her engagement. Her second marriage. Her knowing that she was pregnant, her bearing Yui. The little girl understood.  
She nodded.

The uncle took her away right away. The little girl didn't even have any chance to say goodbye to her mother. Uncle said that it wasn't a good idea. So the little girl left.

"I bring you my daughter," said uncle.  
The little girl stared at the uncle. Daughter?

"She isn't your daughter," a woman dressed in white robe objected. "Your daughter is still a baby.  
"But she is as good as mine! No, even better!"  
The nuns turned at a young blond girl, asking for help.

The young blond girl stepped forward.

"What is your name?" she asked friendly.  
The little girl named her name.  
"Do you know what Noir is?" she asked with a certain iciness in her voice.  
"No," the little girl answered, trying to hide her fear.  
"Noir is a group of two maidens… chosen to protect the peace. Do you think you are fit to fulfill this holy task?"

The little girl didn't know what to answer. Uncle nodded with all might. So she answered, "Yes."  
The blond, young woman smiled.  
"From now on, she belongs to Soldats. All connections with family members are cut. You will never see her again."

Uncle went away quickly. The little girl was left alone among strangers.  
It was at that second that she realized, that she was no longer a child. Her childhood ended that day. The only path opening itself in front of her, was a path of Noir.  
Since then, she never cried again.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's note : Sorry for the VERY late update guys. You know I didn't wanna make u wait :-(  
Anyways, enjoy this one and I have to apologize for going into hiatus for abt one or two months from now on :-(  
Really sorry. I promise to continue. But I have so many exams that I simply can't concentrate. Not now.**

* * *

Mireille walked down the hall alone, pondering about Kirika and her past. Her love of her life suffered a lot. But… did she even remember her sister? She did remember her mother and she just had to remember about the existence of the half sister even for a split of second. But why didn't she say anything? At least looking for her while they were still in Japan? It wasn't like they were in hurry to go back to Paris…..

"Mireille!"

Mireille looked up and spotted Yui running toward her with a strangely relieved expression.  
"Thank God. I thought you were going to leave me alone here and went back."

"Don't be silly," Mireille laughed. "Come, I think we shall find ourselves nice rooms while staying here."  
"Huh? We are staying here?" asked Yui confusedly.

Mireille peered at Yui. The girl acted as cheerfully as if nothing had happened. As if Rosalie was never there to deceive her. But Yui looked so small, so vulnerable now. She looked like a ceramic doll which could be crushed with a single tight grip. Mireille wasn't sure if she was ready for the truth. If she was ready to find out her past which was connected to Kirika.  
For some reason Mireille didn't understand, Yui reacted sensitively to anything related to Kirika. How would she react if she knew that she and Kirika were half-sisters?

"_Just stay here for a while. Until you or I know what to do with Yui Sanders. She is the safest here."_ said Marie before they parted.  
Although she hated the thought of staying at a place full of horrible memories like the Manor, Mireille admitted that Marie was right.  
And Kirika being her half sister wasn't all Yui needed to know.

"_Kirika Yuumura sealed a pact with the Soldats, that her sister be released from Soldats for her whole life and yet protected from any unnatural dangers related to this dark business.  
The girl was then put in the Sanders' custody after her father deceased. For this service, the Sanders were protected by the Soldats. That was how they survived all these years. And yet, they refused to give their adoptive daughter back to Soldats and chose to survive by their own in this world. _

_As you saved her, Mireille, she became a weapon to intimidate Soldats. That's why she was targeted that much, although you may not realize it."_

* * *

"…reille"

"Mireille!"

Mireille jerked off her daydreaming.  
"Uh? What is it?"

"You haven't told me what we are doing here yet."  
Mireille was speechless. Where should she begin? She should start talking about Kirika now. But… where to start?

Yui was impatient. She didn't like this place. It was a scary place which smelled of blood. And she would understand if they had a mission here, but all Mireille did these two days was drinking tea with the older woman whom Mireille addressed as "Marie" and Yui was left behind again.

"Anyway, since I didn't remember my past before Mum and Dad adopted me, had I been here some time in the past?"

Mireille's heart made a jump. Did Yui remember?

"Otherwise… the girl might mistook me with someone else. She said she was glad that I survived, and she said something about Noir. What is Noir, Mireille?"

Mireille gaped at Yui and Yui interpreted it as "I have not the slightest idea about it."

"At any rate, she also called me scary… was I scary? I wonder what I was like before I was adopted.."

_I have absolutely no idea how you were before you were adopted, but I know for sure that the girl, whoever she was, was talking about Kirika_, thought Mireille. She wished she could just say it outloud but at the end she only gaped at Yui.

"The High Priestess awaits both of you for lunch," announces a nun bowingly.

Mireille saw that as a chance to stop gaping at Yui. "Come Yui," she said before swiftly leaving the room.

"Wait Mireille..!" said Yui, scurrying away and tossed Mireille's jacket off the chair.  
"Oh my.."  
She picked up the jacket from the floor and something dropped.  
Mireille's wallet dropped open and revealed a picture.  
Yui's eyes grew bigger.

It was a picture of herself smiling next to Mireille.

Yui didn't remember taking any picture with Mireille. She didn't have this kind of clothes she was wearing in the photo as well. Then she suddenly remembered something.  
As they met for the first time… and she ran amok.. what was it that Mireille showed the innkeeper? Wasn't it something from her wallet?

Yui gasped. It was this photo. And the girl inside the photo was definitely not her. Then who?

"_It looks like you are able to survive."_

"_But you have your life. I envy you. You have someone who loves you so much. It must be happiness for you."  
_  
Yui's mouth dropped open. Someone who was alike to her, who apparently couldn't have survived, and had someone who loved her so much.. there were not many choices to be confused about.

It was Kirika. It could only be Kirika.

Kirika had the same appearance with her. She looked exactly like Kirika.  
Somehow this knowledge made her unhappy. She didn't know why, but she disliked the fact. She didn't like to be alike to someone who had passed away. To be alike to the person her most beloved person loved.

Yui put the wallet on the table and went out of the room heading to the dining room.

In the corridor outside the room, Mireille was talking with another nun. She waved at Yui as she saw her.  
Yui's face muscles seemed to be stiff. She didn't smile. She couldn't smile. Her jealousy toward Kirika was now hundred times more than before she knew that they looked alike. And if Yui wasn't too shocked because of the photo, she was pretty sure she could attack Mireille right away.

Even while eating the lunch Yui couldn't stop thinking about Mireille and Kirika. Why didn't Mireille tell her from the very beginning that she resembled Kirika so much? Why did Mireille keep it a secret?  
Was she afraid of something? What could it be?  
_I am I,_ Yui thought. _I am not Kirika. You don't know who I am. Can't you at least tell me who Kirika is?  
I won't tell that we are the very best friends in the world. I respect your secret little world with Kirika but is it so hard to tell me that she is alike to me?  
Why do you take me with you from the very beginning anyway?  
_Her tears dropped onto the dining table.  
_What am I to you? Do you see me as a second Kirika? Or a puppet resembling Kirika? Are you trying to make me into Kirika?_

"Yui…?" Mireille put down her cutleries and stared at the girl.

_I am not Kirika. I am Yui. Why can't you understand that?_


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's note : Boy, how long has it been? Months? o.o  
Anyway, this is my Christmas present for you all. It takes me months to write this story. I just can't find a good way to continue the story. Kinda get the hang of it now, but I don't promise that the next chapter will be there soon  
Perhaps I can finish the next chapter for New Year.  
Allright, enjoy the story. **

* * *

Yui stared directly at Mireille's face, fully aware that Mireille could see her glassy eyes. She might see the tears collecting themselves in her eyes.  
Yui also realized that they were not alone. But in this moment, Yui didn't see that any of the things matter for now. She could only care for her broken heart for now.  
"Why…?" she muttered, while trying to keep her rage in control.  
"Why..?"

But that's all she managed to say. Then she didn't say anything to Mireille for the next two weeks.  
Somehow sometime later, Sarah found out that Yui wasn't Kirika. She apologized many times, but they got closer and closer with each time.  
Sarah told Yui that she had no one her age there, and she was so happy to have Yui there.  
"How long will you stay?"  
Yui gave Sarah a shrug.  
"Don't you want to stay longer? Like… forever?"  
Yui's eyes grew bigger.  
"You see, my parents are no longer alive as well. I have no one in this world. You too, right?"  
Yui hesitated to answer.

_Do I really have no one? I never know my true parents, they might be dead or alive. And yet, they don't know me so I am not theirs, and they are not mine…….  
The only parents I know… are dead already._  
Mireille… has never been mine, and will never be mine………..

"Yui?"  
"Yeah…….."  
"Huh?"  
"Yeah, we are alike."

Yui walked back to her and Mireille's bedroom, pondering about Sarah's words. Both she and Mireille now knew, that she meant nothing to Mireille. And it hurt Yui to see Mireille. Just because.  
Yui loved Mireille very much, but now she could hardly stand staying in the same room as she was. It wasn't hate. Yui loved Mireille so much that it hurt… that's why, Yui decided to break the relationship. Because it was an empty relationship. A relationship based on secrets and lies…… was no relationship.

Mireille was reading a book as Yui came back to their room.  
"Yui!" Mireille smiled to the girl as she entered.  
She hoped Yui's mood was better now. And indeed, Yui smiled back to her. Mireille was relieved. She had been worried for 2 weeks because Yui suddenly refused to talk to her and sort of. And Mireille had no idea why. In her eyes, Yui had turned into some sort of complicated puzzles which she couldn't solve.

"How was your day today? You look pretty good today."

"I am good, thanks…..

Mireille, why are you staying here?"  
Mireille frowned.  
"Because you are safer here?"  
"But why are _you_ staying here?"

Mireille looked in awe at Yui. Was Yui trying to ask her to leave? Was Yui trying to tell her that they should take different paths from now on?  
"What are you trying to say, Yui?" asked Mireille, praying inside that that what she thought Yui thought wasn't correct.

"I am trying to say,"  
Yui was breathing irregularly. She believed she was about to get a heart attack, but she carried on.  
"…that, you don't have to worry about me anymore. I am safe here, I can take care of myself. You can go back to Paris and continue your life."

"Well that's the exact story," said Mireille, after she finished retelling the story.  
Marie smiled.

"You know, Mireille, we don't mind to have her here. She is a part of Soldats, so she should indeed stay here.  
You. Can stay here as well if you want."  
Mireille laughed.  
"I am no part of Soldats."  
"You were. Why not try to be part of Soldats again?"  
Be part of Soldats again?  
Mireille closed her eyes.  
All she could remember whenever the name Soldats was mentioned was Kirika.  
Kirika's shy smile… Kirika's tears… Kirika's face……

"_...can't... Mireille... I can't... I must.. say it now. There is no more time left."_

"_I am going to die after three months..."_

"_I love you so much, Mireille..."_

"_I am so sorry that I have to leave you alone, Mireille. Sorry because I will die soon."_

Mireille wiped her eyes.  
"No," she answered, determined.

"I understand," said Marie.

"This is our good-bye then?"  
"Yeah, I guess so."

"I see,"  
Mireille and Marie drank up their tea and watched the sun set.

* * *

"Hello, Marie!"  
Marie looked up and smiled at the two girls.  
Yui and Sarah ran up to her, dragging some old swords with them.  
"I showed Yui the old Noir training place. The place is so full of history! You can nearly say that it is full of spirits."  
Marie listened to Sarah's words while taking some peeks at Yui. The girl seemed to doing fine.

It had been one full month since Mireille left the Manor. In the first week, many letters came from her, asking how Yui was doing. After three weeks, though, there was nothing more to hear from Mireille.  
Marie was pretty sure Mireille was busy herself. She continued her life, and therefore it was no wonder that Yui also continued her life. A brand new kind of life which seemed to be a boring life.  
Yui was still very young, and yet she had gone through so many things in her life, that Marie could say, this girl deserved a peaceful life from now on.

Sarah showed Yui how to use swords. Marie was surprised on how quickly Yui learned all Sarah taught her. There was no doubt, that Kirika Yuumura, as she knew her, was the best among all Noir candidates her time, but Yui wasn't bad either. After all, Yui was still alive.  
If only her father had agreed that her daughter became Noir, how would the story go?  
Perhaps there would be no tragedy in Noir's history with Chloe's death, Kirika's death, and Mireille's loneliness. Perhaps, Noir would still exist.  
Ah well………….  
Marie took a deep breath. History couldn't be rewritten. Neither could time be turned back.

Perhaps this is the best for all………… just let her enjoy the rest of her life here. It might be the best part in her life………..


	21. Chapter 21

Yui spent her days in the Manor without asking anything. It wasn't that she had lost her curiosity. She just had lost the motivation to ask, thinking that the answers wouldn't come to surface anyway. She had no idea that all answers of her questions were to get in that place. That was, until she and Sarah started to talk about Mireille on one bright, sunny day.

"The blonde woman who was with you before, Mireille Bouquet." remarked Sarah.  
Yui's heart ached upon hearing the name of the person she loved so much but she let Sarah carry on.  
"She was pretty cool, you know. She was like, able to stand up in front of whole Soldats and release herself and her partner from Soldats."  
Her partner?  
I am her partner as well.  
"What was Kirika doing anyway?" asked Yui nonchalantly. "Was she dead or what?"  
Sarah looked in awe at Yui.  
"Well she wasn't dead yet, but I was sure she was kinda dying."  
"We are all dying in our battles. I don't see that as reason."  
Sarah stared at her in amazement.  
"…What?" Yui started to feel a bit uneasy.  
"Um, no. Not my business, really. Anyway, I think it's cool of her."  
"Yea it's cool." said Yui. As cool as being a liar and lousy friend.

Both of them kept silent for some time, but then Yui spoke up her mind.  
"The Kirika… she is no longer alive, right? What killed her?"  
"If I am not mistaken, it was a lung cancer."  
Yui's eyes grew bigger. "No way."  
"Um, that's true. I saw her coughing up blood back then."  
"When?"  
"Well during the battle in which Mireille yelled to Soldats to release her and Kirika?"  
Oh…… I didn't know that…………

Yui regretted being heartless during their early conversation. She could hardly conceal her jealousy and her anger.

"You two don't have good relationship?" asked Sarah, grinning a bit.  
"How can we? She is such a lousy person with lousy personality."  
"Well, but… I don't know, I think there must still be some feeling hidden behind all the problems?"

Yui turned at Sarah, feeling all cranky and bad-mooded.

"I said, we didn't have feelings to each other anymore."  
"If I had a sister, I would want to make up anytime." said Sarah, dropping herself on the carpet of green grass.  
Yui frowned.  
"Sister? Since when are Mireille and I sisters?"  
Sarah peered at Yui.  
"I mean Kirika, you dork."

Yui's eyes grew bigger until they couldn't grow any bigger.

Sisters?

She gaped at Sarah.

_Sisters….?  
__Kirika and her? _

She bursted out in laughter.  
Sarah snarled at Yui.

"Well sorry if it sounds funny to you, but I mean it. If I have a sister like her for example, I would want to make up anytime." she said, stamping her feet and walking away.  
Yui stopped laughing and watched Sarah's back as she went back inside the Manor.

"I heard that you asked to speak me…" said Marie gently that evening, while she was finishing a letter.  
"Is anything the matter?"  
Yui stood a few meters away from Marie, looking down at the floor, not sure if she should ask anything, or mention anything. Everything seemed so pointless by that time, since Mireille was already gone. They already parted their ways. There was no longer any need to be jealous of Kirika, no need to find out about her life and stuff, no need to know if there was indeed any relationship between her and….

"Sarah said that Kirika and I were sisters. Is that true?"

Marie accidentally made a scratch on the letter she wrote on. She stopped a while to process Yui's words in her brain before she folded the letter together and put it aside.  
"Yes, it is true. You and Kirika are sisters. Step-sisters."

Yui frowned.  
First sisters.  
Now step-sisters. Yui's legs felt so wobbly by then.

"Please have a sit, I will explain it to you."

**

* * *

**

**To Marie.. **

**I am sure you still remember the pact I sealed by the time I entered Soldats. In exchange for my assasinating service, my stepsister would be kept safe within Soldats. Not long after I was sent outside, though, my stepsister also got sent outside to be adopted by a certain family. Eversince then I lost track of how she had been doing, and to be honest I didn't even care about her anymore. In a way I trusted that Soldats would still keep the pact going, in other way I know that Soldats cares for nothing but itself. **

**Now that I am dying, I am sure by the time my death comes the pact will be over as well, no matter if it is still going or not at this very moment. Therefore I am requesting that my stepsister be given back to me. If Soldats isn't willing to protect my stepsister, I will. At least until I die. Then probably she can live with Mireille. Mireille will protect her well.. and she can accompany Mireille so Mireille wouldn't be so lonely without me. This will be the last thing I demand from Soldats, before our tie is cut. Please reply to me as soon as possible… **

**Yours sincerely, **

**Kirika Yuumura. **

Marie had reread the letter over and over again.

She never had any chance to reply to Kirika's letter, because by the time she was trying to get Yui back, the Sanders already ran away with Yui to an unknown place.  
Meanwhile, Kirika deceased. And the letter stayed unreplied.

"Marie!"  
Sarah forced herself inside the room.  
"Yui left!"  
Marie smiled. "I know. I can see her from here."  
Sarah rushed to the window where Marie was standing at.  
"Aren't you going to stop her?" she demanded from Marie.  
"No, because this isn't the place where she belongs."  
"But…!"  
"Look at her, Sarah. That is a girl who is running to find her happiness. Don't you envy her sometimes? Not everyone is as lucky… that's why, we should let her go."  
_Good luck, Yui Sanders….  
_"Aw, I am going to miss her…" sobbed Sarah.  
"Me too," whispered Marie, hugging Sarah's shoulder.

* * *

Mireille elbowed a black suited man hard. The man fell on the floor, unconscious. She pulled the trigger and finished her job.

She wiped the blood flowing from her arm with her handkerchief and walked home in silence.  
It wasn't easy to return to normal life again. To her, life had been playing tag with her all the time. People came to her life, they became important to her, then they went away. Well…. she had the worst hit as Kirika passed away. Kirika took a big part of Mireille with her as she went away.  
So Yui was something like a repetition. Her going away from Mireille wasn't that hurtful. It wasn't the first time. It wasn't the most hurtful event ever.  
Mireille's mind went blank. But then… why was it that her heart ached everytime she thought about that girl? Why was it that she went mad everytime she checked her post and found no reply from that girl?

_People come, people go….  
__That's how life is. _

Mireille gritted her teeth. _What…. just what is wrong with me?  
_She came by the graveyard where Kirika lied in peace. She caressed her tombstone lovingly.

_Kirika… tell me, what's wrong with me?  
__What the hell is wrong with me_?

But Kirika gave no answer. Mireille wept silently. She never felt so alone. She never felt like she's the only human being still alive on the universe.  
That's it….  
Yui's presence did mean something to Mireille. Yui's presence eased Mireille a lot from her pain. It wasn't that she replaced Kirika or something…. her being there was just important to Mireille. Yui was Yui. Yui was never Kirika, and should never be. Yui being herself was enough for Mireille. In fact, that was all Mireille needed.

She wiped her tears and stared at the empy air. She knew just exactly what to do. Whether Yui wanted it or not, she would go to the Manor now and claimed her back. Mireille wanted her to be with her, and she would give it another try.

So Mireille rushed back to her apartment, already planning her trip to the Manor on her way home.  
Soon enough, she realized there was no need for it.  
Yui was standing in front of her door, waiting.

Mireille panted. She tried to catch her breath.  
She could hardly believe her eyes. Yui was there.

"Mireille, I…. I want to stay with you."  
Yui's eyes are glittering with tears threatening to flow out. "I have always wanted to stay with you. I have been looking for reasons to stay with you, but…. I just got it yesterday."  
She held the letter she got from Marie in her trembling hand.  
"I don't care if you need me or not, I want to stay with you, and my sister did too. So will you take me back? If not for me, then for her sake…"  
"Yui…." Mireille sighed.

"Please… I..!" said Yui, but she was cut by Mireille who already rushed forward to hug her.  
"I don't care what the letter said. The truth is, I want you to be there. I don't need a reason to want you to be there. I have been missing you so much, you had no idea…."  
Yui bursted to tears.

"But… but…. I thought I meant nothing to you, I thought that…. that I was only there to replace Kirika, that… that…"  
"Sshh, silence." said Mireille.  
Yui wept even more on Mireille's shoulder, and Mireille hugged Yui tightlier.  
The golden sunlight dropped on them. They hugged each other until the sun set. For the first time after all the craps happening to them, they both believed that what they had that time would last eternally, no matter what the future held for them.

_I want to be with you. I don't need a reason to be with you…. _

**Do not stand at my grave and weep  
I am not there; I do not sleep. **

Inside Mireille's apartment, a leaf was blown away out of the window by the wind. It soared high to the sky, nearly as if someone was using magic on it.

**I am a thousand winds that blow,  
I am the diamond glints on snow, **

It passed a field full of flowers. The flowers were blooming so beautifully that season.

**I am the sun on ripened grain,  
I am the gentle autumn rain. **

It passed over a group of little kids happily playing in the park.

**When you awaken in the morning's hush  
I am the swift uplifting rush  
Of quiet birds in circled flight.  
I am the soft stars that shine at night. **

At last, the wind slowed down and dropped the leaf unto a graveyard, in front of a very special gravestone dedicated to a very special girl.

**Kirika Yuumura **

**Do not stand at my grave and cry,  
I am not there; I did not die. **

* * *

**Author's note : Boy, I cried like no other while writing this last chapter... but yes, finally, My Lasts comes to an end. At the end I manage to end it the way I want it to. Took me one year for this one last chapter... gomen ne, I hope you like the way it ends. **

**And credit to Mary Frye for the lovely poem.**


End file.
